President's son mute on graft allegation<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The President's son and the State Secretary have refused to
\ncomment on a real estate contract between the State Secretariat
\nand the first family that was not put up for tender.<\/p>\n
When The Jakarta Post tried Wednesday to get his side of the
\nstory, Mohammad Rizky Pratama retorted: \"I have nothing to say on
\nthe issue.\"<\/p>\n
Pratama is the eldest son of Megawati Soekarnoputri from her
\nfirst husband, the late Airforce Capt. Surindro.<\/p>\n
State\/Cabinet Secretary Bambang Kesowo tried to distance
\nhimself from the issue, saying the Jakarta Fairground was not
\nunder his office's supervision.<\/p>\n
\"It is not our business ... ask those who know about it,\"
\nBambang said at the State Palace on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The 44-hectare fairground is managed by the State Secretariat.<\/p>\n
The case came to light following a finding by an ad hoc team
\nfrom the House of Representatives that a contract awarded to
\nPratama, known as Tatam, was conducted without a public tender.
\nThe team was tasked to investigate the management of the Jakarta
\nFairground in Kemayoran.<\/p>\n
Team chairman Effendy Choiri said Tatam had the privilege of
\ncontrolling 30 of the 44 hectares of land.<\/p>\n
He said Tatam and his business partner who run PT Theda
\nPersada Nusantara would construct plush apartments, a shopping
\ncenter and a hypermarket on the land.<\/p>\n
Tatam's business partners reportedly include The Hok Bing (a
\nbusinessman from Surabaya and the company's president director),
\nSamingun (director of Agriculture Pension Fund and the company's
\ncommissioner) and Li Zhaoling (a Chinese businessperson
\nassociated with the Beijing Returned Overseas Chinese Federation
\nPartners).<\/p>\n
Effendy said that in the contract signed on July 29, 2003 the
\nparties had different obligations in the construction and Li had
\nprovided a US$700 million bank warranty for the project.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Fairground once served as a domestic airport,
\nbefore it came under the jurisdiction of the State Secretariat in
\nthe late 1980s and was transformed into a fairground.<\/p>\n
In 2000, the International Trade Fair (JITF), owned by tycoon
\nEdward Soeryajaya, was appointed as the organizer of the annual
\nJakarta Fair on the land.<\/p>\n
Most parts of Kemayoran is run by the Kemayoran New Town
\nAuthority (DPPPKK), under the State Secretariat. It is not clear
\nwhen the authority took control of the ground.<\/p>\n
In a related development, the House team summoned
\nbusinesswoman Hartati Murdaya on Wednesday to ask her about her
\ndispute with Edward Soeryajaya over a contract in Kemayoran.<\/p>\n
Tempointeractive reported that in a closed-door session,
\nHartati revealed that JITF owed US$124 million to the Jakarta
\nDevelopment Cooperation (JDC).<\/p>\n
The House is planning to summon Tatam as well as Abdul Muis,
\ndirector of the Jakarta Fairground management board, and Ratna
\nSintawati Tantudjojo, a notary public for the agreement.<\/p>",
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