Puteh admits no bid offered<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Graft suspect Abdullah Puteh admitted on Thursday that no tender
\nwas held for the purchase of a Russian-made helicopter in 2001,
\nbut denied suggestions that he had violated any law in the deal.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters after undergoing 13 hours of questioning
\nat the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) office, Puteh said
\nthat Presidential Decree No. 18\/2000 allowed him to award a
\nproject without public tender.<\/p>\n
"What I did (skipping the bidding process) was in line with
\nPresidential Decree No. 18\/2000," said Puteh, who is also
\ngovernor of Nangroe Aceh Darussalam.<\/p>\n
KPK has declared Puteh a graft suspect for allegedly marking
\nup the price of a Russian assault helicopter the Aceh
\nadministration bought in 2001, causing the state to lose some Rp
\n4 billion (US$440,000).<\/p>\n
Presidential Decree No. 18\/2000 requires a transparent bidding
\nprocess for any government project or procurement of goods valued
\nat more than Rp 5 billion. However, it allows local
\nadministrations to skip the procedure in case of emergency,
\nincluding natural disaster, or if the project deals with
\n"sensitive materials" such as explosive.<\/p>\n
Puteh said Aceh legislature members approved the purchase of
\nthe helicopter in a plenary session because "we need a strategic
\nvehicle that enables us to carry out our duties in monitoring a
\nterritory as vast as Aceh".<\/p>\n
Puteh's lawyer, OC Kaligis, said that his client had to answer
\nabout 80 questions during the interrogation. All questions were
\nrelated to the procedure in the purchase of the chopper.<\/p>\n
During the questioning, several anticorruption activists went
\nto the KPK office to submit data on corruption allegedly
\ncommitted by Aceh officials and councillors.<\/p>\n
The activists, members of the Indonesian Corruption Watch
\n(ICW), the Aceh Solidarity on Anticorruption Movement (Sorak) and
\nTransparency International Indonesia (TII), said in their report
\nthat Aceh councillors raised the budget for their salaries,
\ncausing Rp 8.2 billion in state losses.<\/p>\n
Represented by Teten Masduki of ICW and Akhiruddin Mahjuddin
\nof Sorak, the activists met with commission leaders for almost
\none hour.<\/p>\n
"The alleged corruption violates Article 14 of Government
\nRegulation No. 110\/2000 on the composition of councils, because
\nthey allocated funds as payment for their position as Aceh
\nlegislators, causing state losses of Rp 8.2 billion.<\/p>\n
"We have to submit the report because all Aceh councillors
\nfeel that they are clean and try to defend Puteh regardless of
\nhis status as a graft suspect," Akhiruddin said.<\/p>\n
Thursday's questioning was the second consecutive day for
\nPuteh to be grilled by KPK investigators.<\/p>\n
The KPK initiated the investigation after numerous allegations
\nthat the helicopter's price was marked up considerably. The Navy,
\nfor instance, bought the same type of aircraft for Rp 6 billion,
\nwhile the Aceh administration bought it for Rp 12.2 billion.
\nHowever, the administration's helicopter had extra accessories,
\nsuch as a bulletproof windscreen.<\/p>\n
At least 13 regental administrations in Aceh, including North
\nAceh, Sabang and Aceh Besar, contributed Rp 700 million each to
\nhelp the provincial administration buy the chopper.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/puteh-admits-no-bid-offered-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}