Prosecutors to summon former Lampung governor over graft<\/p>\n
Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung, Lampung<\/p>\n
Head of the Lampung Prosecutor's Office Putu Kusa said on Tuesday
\nhe would soon summon former governor Oemarsono for questioning in
\na Rp 1.17 billion corruption case concerning textbook
\nprocurement.<\/p>\n
Oemarsono, who lost the gubernatorial election last year, will
\nbe quizzed as a witness, he said in the provincial capital of
\nBandarlampung.<\/p>\n
Putu said the former governor had to clarify his alleged
\ndecision to directly appoint a contractor for the atlas
\nprocurement project last year without organizing an open tender
\nas required by law.<\/p>\n
The prosecutors have detained the head of the province's
\nvillage community empowerment agency, Merayu Sukma, as a suspect
\nin the same case.<\/p>\n
The planned summons for Oemarsono followed confessions by
\nMerayu that the direct appointment of the contractor was arranged
\nby the former governor.<\/p>\n
"I was ordered by the then governor by phone in May 2001 to
\nappoint CV Yudhistira based in East Jakarta to handle the atlas
\nprocurement project," Merayu said.<\/p>\n
But Oemarsono flatly denied the corruption allegations against
\nhim. "It's not true. I myself asked for a financial audit agency
\nto examine any possible irregularities in the project," he
\nclaimed.<\/p>\n
Reliable sources told The Jakarta Post that the provincial
\neducation office was one of Oemarsono's financial sources to
\ngarner funds for his reelection bid last December.<\/p>\n
Citing evidence, they said that 50 percent of the contract
\nvalue was paid to the former governor.<\/p>\n
In a related development, prosecutors have declared the head
\nof the Lampung education office Sutoto a suspect in another graft
\ncase concerning a textbook contract worth Rp 6.3 billion.<\/p>\n
Darmono, who is a deputy prosecutor tasked with dealing with
\nthe corruption cases against Sutoto, said the investigation
\nshowed there were financial irregularities in the project.<\/p>\n
"In the procurement project worth Rp 6.3 billion, Sutoto and
\nhis cronies received an allocation of Rp 3 billion. It's
\noutrageous," he said.<\/p>\n
The project was shared by 22 contractors, almost all of which
\nwere named through direct appointment. "This obviously violates
\nPresidential Decree No. 18\/2000, requiring tenders for projects
\nof such a huge value," Darmono added.<\/p>\n
Sutoto denied the allegations and said his detention was
\nillogical. "I only knew about the direct appointment of the
\ncontractors from the project managers some time after I was
\ninstalled as the head of the Lampung education office," he
\nclaimed.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, a number of contractors affiliated with the
\nNational Construction Business Association (Gapeknas) have
\ncomplained about the lack of transparency in the implementation
\nof projects at Sutoto's office.<\/p>\n
Last October, the provincial chapter of Gapeknas reported
\neducation project irregularities involving Rp 108 billion to the
\nLampung Police and prosecutors, said Yos Bambang of the local
\nGapeknas.<\/p>\n
Observers have said the contractors appointed to handle
\neducation projects in Lampung failed to meet managerial
\nqualifications with many having no experience in dealing with
\nprojects and most even named from within the education office.<\/p>\n
Independent data shows the total value of the Lampung
\neducation projects implemented for the 2001-2002 period without
\ntenders reached around Rp 150 billion.<\/p>\n
The lack of transparency sparked widespread suspicions that
\nthe money was partly used to help finance the gubernatorial
\nelection.<\/p>",
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