Dolog Jaya boss quizzed over dubious transaction<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The city police questioned the city's logistics
\nagency (Dolog Jaya) head Ahmad Zawawi on Wednesday for almost
\nfive hours over alleged illegal rice transactions and rice
\nexports to Kuching, Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Zawawi, who left the economics unit of the city police
\ndetectives department at 2:30 p.m., refused to go into detail
\nabout the questioning.<\/p>\n
\"I'm a witness, not a suspect. I just talked (with the
\ninterrogators),\" Zawawi told reporters, then quickly got into his
\nsedan and left the city police headquarters.<\/p>\n
City police spokesman Lt. Col. Edward Aritonang confirmed that
\nZawawi had been questioned as a witness.<\/p>\n
But, the officer added, the police investigation might also
\nlead to the Dolog Jaya boss becoming a suspect.<\/p>\n
\"During today's questioning, we only asked him about general
\nmatters, such as the mechanism of rice distribution,\" Aritonang
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He said the police planned to question Zawawi again some time
\nin the future.<\/p>\n
According to Aritonang, the city police have found strong
\nindications of recent violations at Dolog Jaya in allocating rice
\nto its distributors.<\/p>\n
Normally, he said, distributors have to line-up at Dolog Jaya
\nto get a notice signed by the agency's head.<\/p>\n
The notice, called Surat Perintah Setor (SPS), states the
\nquantity of rice to be allocated to a distributor and the amount
\nof money to be paid to the agency through Bank Bukopin, Aritonang
\nexplained.<\/p>\n
Dolog Jaya's head had the authority to determine rice
\nallocations, he said.<\/p>\n
After paying for the rice at the bank, distributors receive
\ndelivery orders which are used to take the rice from the agency's
\nwarehouses, the officer said.<\/p>\n
Speed service<\/p>\n
\"But, based on witnesses' testimonies, Zawawi often received
\ndistributors at his office after working hours,\" Aritonang told
\nthe media.<\/p>\n
The police, he added, had also learned that distributors could
\nobtain an SPS in two ways: the normal procedure which forces one
\nto spend hours in long queues, and the so-called \"shortcut\".<\/p>\n
People who chose the shortcut usually received larger amounts
\nof rice, he said.<\/p>\n
Aritonang refused to disclose whether Zawawi asked for money
\nfrom distributors who took the shortcut.<\/p>\n
\"You can easily draw your own conclusions,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Besides Zawawi, the police have so far questioned four other
\nDolog Jaya officials: deputy head Saean Ahmad and senior staff
\nmembers Edi H., Mulia S. and Edi S., all from the distribution
\nunit, he said.<\/p>\n
None of them have been charged in connection with the case.<\/p>\n
Zawawi was questioned in regard to last week's arrest of 15
\npeople at Zawawi's office in North Jakarta for allegedly
\npossessing illegal rice delivery orders.<\/p>\n
His questioning was also in connection with the discovery of
\n1,900 tons of rice at Sunda Kelapa Port in North Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The rice, police said, was to be shipped to Kuching.<\/p>\n
Nine people were arrested at the time. Four of the nine have
\nbeen named as suspects, while the remaining five were released as
\npolice found that they were only workers.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the City Council urged the authorities on Wednesday
\nto temporarily relieve Zawawi and the four staff members from
\ntheir jobs.<\/p>\n
\"While the Dolog Jaya officials are still under police
\nquestioning, the responsible parties should relieve them of their
\njobs soon,\" council speaker Edy Walujo said.<\/p>\n
By doing so, the officials would no longer have access to the
\noffice to, for example, throw away important evidence, such as
\nfiles related to the cases, he said.<\/p>\n
\"These men, if found guilty, should be punished with the
\nmaximum penalties as a warning to other officials. I really
\nbelieve there are many qualified and clean officials that could
\nreplace them,\" Edy added. (jun\/ida)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/dolog-jaya-boss-quizzed-over-dubious-transaction-1447893297",
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