No bribes found in city-owned firms: Kahfi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Deputy Governor of Administrative Affairs Abdul
\nKahfi insisted on Monday that the city's Reform Team, that he
\nchaired, had not had any reports of alleged bribery by city owned
\nfirms to auditors of the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP).<\/p>\n
\"It's just PD Pasar Jaya which reported the matter,\" Kahfi
\nsaid, referring to the city run market operator company whose
\nboss admitted last week of having given \"incentives\" totaling Rp
\n60 million to BPKP auditors.<\/p>\n
Kahfi, who is also head of the city's inspectorate, also
\ndenied that auditors from his office had received similar illicit
\n\"tips\" when auditing the firms' financial records.<\/p>\n
\"But if there are reports (on such alleged misdeeds), please
\nlet us know. So far, we've received no reports on the case,\" he
\nsaid after a meeting led by Governor Sutiyoso on public order
\nacross the capital.<\/p>\n
Pasar Jaya's president Syahrir Tanjung rocked the Jakarta
\nadministration office when he announced that his company had
\nhanded over tips to 10 BPKP auditors, who audited the firm's 1997
\nfinancial report.<\/p>\n
He insisted that the payments occurred with Sutiyoso's
\nknowledge and approval.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Syahrir urged reporters not to further run the
\nreport of the alleged misdeeds of the BPKP auditors.<\/p>\n
\"(I) pity the BPKP men,\" he begged.<\/p>\n
Many councilors believe that other city-owned firms also gave
\nmoney not only to the BPKP officials but also to auditors from
\nthe city's inspectorate office and tax offices.<\/p>\n
The city owns 60 firms.<\/p>\n
Sutiyoso on Friday denied knowledge of the payments, adding
\nthat such illegal practice could be a legacy of the rampant
\ncorruption in the bureaucracy of the past.<\/p>\n
The alleged under-the-table payment conducted by both BPKP
\nauditors and Pasar Jaya executives also sparked anger from legal
\nobservers.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Corruption Watch executive Bambang Widjoyanto and
\ncriminal law expert Loebby Loqman have called on the central
\ngovernment to investigate the alleged corruption to help boost
\nthe country's anticorruption drive.<\/p>\n
During the meeting with the city's high-ranking officials,
\nGovernor Sutiyoso ordered all of the five mayors to take all
\nnecessary action to manage public order in their respective
\nareas.<\/p>\n
\"So far, it seems that the actions (to make public order) have
\nnot been synchronous,\" Kahfi said after the meeting.<\/p>\n
Many councilors have criticized the mayors' alleged habits of
\nwaiting for the governor's instruction before taking any action
\nto properly handle problems in their respective areas.<\/p>\n
On many occasions, Sutiyoso said, he had given the mayors
\nauthority to handle their own problems.<\/p>\n
An ongoing dispute with traders at the crowded Taman Puring
\nflea market in South Jakarta and the problematic arrangement with
\npedicab drivers are just a few examples of the lack of
\ncoordination between the city administration and the mayoralties.<\/p>\n
According to Kahfi, officials at the mayoralty level often ask
\npeople to go to City Hall for solutions to their problems
\nalthough they were responsible for settling the disputes.<\/p>\n
The dispute between Taman Puring traders and the South Jakarta
\nmayoralty office about the planned demolition of the flea market
\nhas not yet been settled as the local authorities have admitted
\nto waiting for the city administration's final decision.<\/p>\n
But Mayor Abdul Mufti announced that the plan to demolish
\nshops in the flea market had been temporarily postponed.<\/p>\n
\"The demolition will not be carried out until the traders are
\nmade aware of the plan,\" he said in a break during the meeting at
\nCity Hall. (jun)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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