Ex-mayor confirms Tanah Abang plan in 'Tempo' case<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Long before fire ravaged the Tanah Abang market, a property
\ncompany had submitted a proposal to the Central Jakarta
\nmunicipality to renovate the market, according to a witness
\ncalled by the prosecution testifying in the case of businessman
\nTomy Winata versus Tempo magazine.<\/p>\n
Former Central Jakarta mayor Andi Syukur Abdullah said on
\nMonday that sometime in August 2001, toward the end of his
\ntenure, he received a proposal for the market renovation -- which
\nwas slated to cost around Rp 50 billion (US$5.8 million),
\nalthough the city did not hold an open bid for the project.<\/p>\n
\"I can't quite recall which property company submitted the
\nproposal, but it was not Tomy Winata or his Artha Graha Group,\"
\nAndi told the Central Jakarta District Court.<\/p>\n
When pressed by Tempo's lawyer, he said, \"Actually I am not
\nquite sure which company had submitted the proposal, because
\nArtha Graha has so many subsidiaries.\"<\/p>\n
Businessman Tomy Winata who leads Artha Graha is suing Tempo
\nfor mentioning in its March 3 edition that an anonymous source
\nsaid some time before the fire he had seen a proposal from Tomy's
\ncompany for the renovation of Tanah Abang market, the biggest
\ntextile market in Southeast Asia. The proposal stated the cost of
\nrenovation at Rp 53 billion.<\/p>\n
The edition came out two weeks after a fire destroyed the huge
\nmarket on Feb. 19 which supports the livelihood of thousands of
\npeople.<\/p>\n
Tempo chief editor Bambang Harymurti and journalists Ahmad
\nTaufik and T. Iskandar Ali have been charged with publishing a
\nreport that could provoke public disorder which carries a maximum
\nsentence of 10 years in prison.<\/p>\n
Another witness, Agusdin Susanto, an official with the city
\nadministration's legal bureau, told the court that Governor
\nSutiyoso himself had issued a letter saying that the well-
\nconnected businessman had not submitted a proposal to the city
\nadministration for rebuilding the market.<\/p>\n
He said that Sutiyoso's letter was issued on March 13 to
\nrespond to a written request from Tomy's lawyer Desmond J. Mahesa
\nwho asked clarification on whether his client had ever submitted
\nsuch a proposal. The request was also made on March 13.<\/p>\n
\"I was ordered by the head of my bureau to draft the letter at
\n10 a.m. and it was signed by Governor Sutiyoso at 1 p.m.,\" he
\nsaid. Agusdin said that it was the first time during his stint in
\nthe bureau, that the Governor had responded so quickly.<\/p>\n
The letter from Sutiyoso was one among other documents seized
\nby Jakarta Police detectives as evidence in the libel suit. The
\nseizure of the document has ignited further legal complications,
\nafter the Tempo defense lawyers accused the police of using
\nfraudulent documents as evidence.<\/p>\n
Presiding judge Andriani Nurdin adjourned the trial -- the
\nonly hearing held by the district court in the first weekday
\nafter the Idul Fitri holiday -- until Dec. 8 to hear more
\nwitnesses.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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