Ministry uncovers Rp2.6t graft<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Home Affairs disclosed on
\nTuesday corruption cases which cost the government a whopping Rp
\n2.6 trillion (US$388 million).<\/p>\n
The amount, which is more than a third of the figure related
\nto embezzled state funds unveiled by the government last week,
\nwas calculated from cases of graft between October last year and
\nFebruary this year, the ministry's Inspector General Andi Jalal
\nBachtiar said.<\/p>\n
Of the state funds embezzled, only Rp 959 billion has been
\nrecovered, Jalal added.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for Development Supervision and
\nAdministrative Reforms Hartarto Sastrosoenarto announced last
\nweek that 3,025 corruption cases involving Rp 7.21 trillion in
\nstate funds had been uncovered during the 1998\/1999 fiscal year,
\nwhich ended on April 1.<\/p>\n
Jalal said that corruption mostly occurred in the procurement
\nof goods and the tendering of projects.<\/p>\n
In terms of graft in provinces, Jakarta topped the list with
\nRp 115 billion, followed by East Java with Rp 95 billion and West
\nJava third with Rp 38 billion.<\/p>\n
Antara quoted Jalal as saying that in connection with graft
\nfound in provinces, the ministry's inspectorate general would
\nquiz 20 governors. He did not name the governors.<\/p>\n
The inspectorate general will also question the ministry's
\nformer secretary-general Feisal Tamin, who resigned late May in
\norder to concentrate on chairing the Civil Servants Corps
\n(Korpri).<\/p>\n
Apart from the anticorruption drive, the ministry has
\ndismissed nine regents, including Col. Sri Roso Sudarmo of Bantul
\nin Yogyakarta. He was sentenced to nine months in jail for
\nattempted bribery to pave the way for his reelection.<\/p>\n
Other regents were from Asahan and Langkat in North Sumatra
\nand Tegal in Central Java.<\/p>\n
Jalal said the ministry had imposed punitive measures on 144
\nemployees, nine of them were fired, 16 suspended and others
\ndemoted or reprimanded.<\/p>\n
Another 333 face investigation.<\/p>\n
Surprise<\/p>\n
In response to the ministry's findings, the Jakarta
\nadministration's secretary Fauzie Bowo said he did not deny that
\ncorruption occurred in the provincial administration, but the
\namount surprised him.<\/p>\n
\"We doubted corruption here had reached such an alarming level
\nas that announced by the ministry,\" Fauzie said.<\/p>\n
Fauzie questioned the criteria set by the ministry to gauge
\nthe level of corruption in provinces.<\/p>\n
Several city officials are now under investigation by the
\nprosecutor's office for alleged corruption.<\/p>\n
Among the biggest cases are a Rp 12 billion land scam at city-
\nowned construction company PD Pembangunan Sarana Jaya, a Rp 2
\nbillion corruption case at city-owned Bank DKI and Rp 2.6 billion
\nland scam reportedly involving former West Jakarta mayor
\nSutardjianto.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Communications announced on Tuesday
\nthat it had canceled 12 infrastructure projects under the
\nministry on the grounds that they were tainted with corruption,
\ncollusion and nepotism. Some of the projects were linked to
\nformer president Soeharto's family and friends.<\/p>\n
Minister of Communications Giri Suseno Hadihardjono said the
\nprojects, which were to be jointly developed by private companies
\nand state companies under his office, would have resulted in
\nsubstantial losses to the government had they gone ahead.<\/p>\n
\"We decided to cancel those projects because private partners
\nin the canceled projects were appointed directly by the
\ngovernment without competitive tender,\" he said in a media
\nconference.<\/p>\n
Most of the projects, Giri said, had not entered the
\nconstruction phase, even though some of the contracts had been
\nsigned in 1995.<\/p>\n
\"However, some of the projects will be continued in the future
\nif they are considered beneficial to the public. But we have to
\nfind new suitable partners through open tender,\" he said.<\/p>\n
PT Citra Lamtoro Gung Persada, owned by Soeharto's eldest
\ndaughter Siti Hardijanti Indra Rukmana, lost its contract with
\nstate railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (PT KAI) to develop
\nand operate a Rp 450 billion railway in West Java's capital of
\nBandung.<\/p>\n
PT Humpuss Terminal Petikemas, owned by Soeharto's youngest
\nson Hutomo \"Tommy\" Mandala Putra lost its contract with KAI to
\ndevelop a container terminal in Gedebage Baru, West Java.<\/p>\n
PT Tri Daya Esta, owned by Tommy's brother Bambang Trihatmodjo
\nlost its contracts to develop Rp 478.9 billion railway linking
\nMerak-Urak-Tuban-Babat and freight car railway for state cement
\nproducer PT Semen Gresik.<\/p>\n
The ministry also canceled PT KAI's contract with the Ciputra
\nGroup for the development of container terminals in Gedebage
\nPadalarang and Cikupa, Tangerang.<\/p>\n
However, most of journalists attending the news conference
\nwere not satisfied with the ministry's findings, saying that it
\nwas merely \"for the sake of courtesy\".<\/p>\n
Giri, they said, had failed to reveal massive corruption
\nallegedly practiced by his predecessor Haryanto Dhanutirto.<\/p>\n
Giri, however, defended his team, saying it could not find any
\nevidence in relation to Haryanto.<\/p>\n
Separately the Ministry of Education and Culture announced its
\ninspectorate general had recommended the Minister to ask for the
\naccountability of the head of the Lampung provincial office for
\nunclear use of funds of Rp 52.6 million, Antara reported.<\/p>\n
The Ministry had also proved abuse of Rp 3.2 billion in the
\nproject of school buildings in West Java, and the head of the
\nprovincial office would be replaced. The ministry officials
\navoided elaborating on the question of the much reported alleged
\ncorruption in World Bank funds for school books.(gis\/ind\/amd)<\/p>",
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