Official denies involvement in Rp 100b markup case<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post\/Bandung<\/p>\n
A former West Java official denied on Friday that he had been
\ninvolved in a markup scam worth Rp 100 billion (US$10.6 million)
\nlast year as has been reported by local antigraft activists.<\/p>\n
There were no irregularities in the purchase of heavy
\nequipment worth Rp 100 billion, said Wahyu Kurnia, the former
\nchief of the Equipment Bureau in the West Java provincial
\nadministration.<\/p>\n
"I have been questioned by the Corruption Eradication
\nCommission (KPK) and I told them that there were no markups,"
\nsaid Wahyu on Friday.<\/p>\n
According to Wahyu, the price had been determined by the agent
\nwho had imported the equipment from Japan to West Java province,
\nand that no markups were involved.<\/p>\n
"I don't know why the antigraft activists have a different
\nstory about the price. This needs to be clarified," said Wahyu.<\/p>\n
The alleged graft surfaced after the Bandung Institute for
\nGovernment Studies (BIGS) reported a number of local government
\nofficials to the KPK on Wednesday for allegedly marking up the
\nprice of the heavy equipment.<\/p>\n
Dedi Haryadi, the executive director of BIGS, said that
\ngovernment officials had bought the heavy equipment, which
\nincluded dump trucks, ambulances and fire trucks, for Rp 100
\nbillion last year. The equipment was to have been allocated to 25
\nregencies and municipalities across West Java province. But, when
\nBIGS checked the market prices, they found that the total should
\nhave come to only Rp 60 billion.<\/p>\n
"We suspect that markups were involved as the difference was
\ntoo big," said Haryadi.<\/p>\n
As an example, Haryadi said that the administration had set
\nthe price of an ambulance at Rp 400 million. But, when BIGS
\nchecked the market price, it was found that the price should have
\nbeen only Rp 300 million.<\/p>\n
"This is only one of the 541 items purchased by the Equipment
\nBureau. We are demanding a thorough audit," said Haryadi.<\/p>\n
Haryadi chose to report the case to the KPK rather than the
\npolice or prosecutor's office as it considered the KPK to be more
\ncredible.<\/p>\n
He said that the performance of the police and prosecutors had
\nbeen disappointing as they were slow to investigate corruption
\ncases, as shown by the investigation into corruption worth Rp
\n33.4 billion allegedly perpetrated by former West Java
\ncouncillors. This investigation had been underway for two years
\nand nothing of note had been achieved to date.<\/p>\n
West Java Governor Danny Setiawan said that he was ready to be
\nquestioned in the case. But he believed that his former
\nsubordinates had acted properly.<\/p>\n
"The purchases should have been discussed with the public
\nrepresentatives on the budget committee of the West Java
\nprovincial council, but I believe there is nothing wrong with
\nthem," he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/official-denies-involvement-in-rp-100b-markup-case-1447893297",
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