Haryanto pleads to press to respect his rights<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto,
\nwhose wealth has been the subject of media speculation these last
\ntwo days, pleaded with reporters yesterday to respect his rights.<\/p>\n
\"Please show some respect for me,\" Haryanto told reporters who
\ncrowded around him for comments at his office last night.<\/p>\n
The journalists were asking whether he had submitted details
\nof his personal wealth when he met with Vice President Try
\nSutrisno on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The minister called on the media to be patient and wait until
\nhe meets with Try again next week.<\/p>\n
When reporters pressed him further about whether he had any
\ncomments about the accusations of corruption leveled at him, he
\nrepeatedly said \"My position remains the same\".<\/p>\n
He left his office in a minibus, instead of his official car,
\nbut only after he had the chance to tell reporters that his
\npersonal car is a Nissan Terrano, rather than the more expensive
\nCherokee Jeep as some people have suggested.<\/p>\n
Minister\/State Secretary Moerdiono confirmed on Friday that an
\ninvestigation had been launched into allegations of financial
\nirregularities at the Ministry of Transportation.<\/p>\n
The investigation was started following a report by Inspector
\nGeneral for Development Kentot Harsono to President Soeharto.
\nMoerdiono said the President had asked Try to follow it up.<\/p>\n
Two local newspapers yesterday ran photos of what they said
\nwere some of the property, including land, fish ponds and
\nbungalows, belonging to Haryanto, some of them in Lembang and
\nSubang, West Java.<\/p>\n
The ministry's spokesman, Bambang S. Ervan, yesterday rejected
\naccusations that the minister, who was included in the cabinet in
\nMarch 1993, has used his position to amass wealth.<\/p>\n
Bambang told reporters that the land in Lembang was only 0.5
\nhectares in area, and that Haryanto bought it in 1974. A 500-
\nsquare-meter house was built on the land in 1975, In 1985,
\nHaryanto bought a two-hectare plot of land in Subang, West Java,
\nand gradually bought more land until he had the current five-
\nhectare plot.<\/p>\n
He built 34 fish ponds on the land, each with a size of
\nbetween 400 and 800 square meters, Bambang said.<\/p>\n
Two of the fish ponds are used to breed two kinds of exotic,
\nexpensive fishes, known locally as koi and arwana. The rest of
\nthe ponds are used to breed goldfish, he explained.<\/p>\n
\"The fish ponds are often used for research by people from the
\nBPPT,\" Bambang said, referring to the Agency for the Assessment
\nand Application of Technology, which is chaired by State Minister
\nfor Research and Technology B.J. Habibie. (swe)<\/p>",
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