NGOs provide more evidence of graft against Muna officials<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A group of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) provided the
\nCorruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Monday with further
\nevidence to use in its report on alleged corruption within the
\nMuna administration in Southeast Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
The NGOs, including Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) and the
\nIndonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (FITRA), said that they
\nfound more documents to back up the report on the illegal
\nauctioning of teakwood.<\/p>\n
\"We earlier discovered alleged state losses of only Rp 7
\nbillion (US$777,000) caused by teakwood sales by the Muna
\nadministration. Now, we have secured more documents revealing
\nthat the state actually suffered some Rp 11 billion in losses,\"
\nsaid La Ode Udin, spokesman for the NGOs.<\/p>\n
He accused the Muna administration of embezzling some of the
\nmoney from auctions of illegally cut teakwood in 2002 and 2003.<\/p>\n
Some local officials were tried at a district court in
\nSoutheast Sulawesi, but prosecutors failed to locate those most
\nresponsible for the scam.<\/p>\n
During a court hearing on July 13, the Muna administration was
\naccused of involvement in illegal logging in the regency in a bid
\nto benefit from teakwood auctions.<\/p>\n
According to the NGOs' report, officials in the Muna forestry
\noffice allegedly ordered local residents to cut down teak trees
\nin a 4,000-hectare forest.<\/p>\n
The felled trees, which were left in the forest by the
\nresidents, were then seized by the forestry office and declared
\nillegal, the report claimed.<\/p>\n
\"The winners of bidding at the teak auction were particular
\ncompanies, some of which came from Java,\" it said.<\/p>\n
According to a ministerial decree, it is the responsibility of
\na regency administration to auction logs seized from illegal
\nactivities in its area. The prosecutor must be consulted prior to
\nthe auction.<\/p>\n
Data from the NGOs shows that the volume of illegally felled
\nteak trees in Muna increased from 4.6 million cubic meters in
\n2002 to 7.6 million cubic meters last year.<\/p>\n
\"We urge the KPK to supervise the prosecution of the case to
\nensure a fair trial. We also ask the commission to take over the
\ninvestigation into the case if prosecutors fail to do their jobs
\nproperly,\" said Hidayatullah, another NGO activist.<\/p>\n
Muna Regent Ridwan has denied the accusations, saying no state
\nrevenue was lost from the teakwood auctions.<\/p>\n
There were attempts by individuals to undermine his
\nadministration, he said, adding that the allegations were
\npolitically motivated.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ngos-provide-more-evidence-of-graft-against-muna-officials-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}