Acting Governor of South Sulawesi Bahtiar Baharuddin and Associates Charged in Pineapple Seedling Procurement Corruption Case Causing Rp50 Billion State Loss

The Special Crimes Division (Pidsus) of the South Sulawesi High Prosecutor’s Office has uncovered fraud in the procurement of pineapple seedlings in an alleged corruption case that caused the state losses of approximately Rp50 billion.

“There are many indications of unlawful conduct, beginning with the planning phase. This should have been structured as a grant mechanism. There was no proposal, but it was simply stipulated. The land was not even prepared,” said Didik Farkhan Alisyahdi, Head of the South Sulawesi High Prosecutor’s Office, whilst making his announcement in Makassar on Monday evening.

He indicated that the project lacked proper planning from the outset, including failure to prepare land for planting. The procurement of approximately 4 million pineapple seedlings sourced from various locations outside South Sulawesi had no designated storage facility. The seedlings could not even be stored at PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) facilities.

“There was no planning whatsoever, so when the seedlings arrived—numbering 4 million—they could not be stored at PTPN. There were 3.5 million seedlings there. Imagine that: without proper planning, 3.5 million of the 4 million seedlings died,” he stated.

The budget for pineapple seedling procurement amounted to Rp60 billion, sourced from the 2024 state budget. According to calculations by the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP), the total loss reached Rp50 billion.

“The state loss is still being calculated by BPKP. However, what is clear is that from the Rp60 billion budget, only Rp4.5 billion was actually spent on the seedlings, plus transport costs. That means roughly Rp50 billion remains unaccounted for, and a further Rp5 billion is unclear. The losses exceed Rp50 billion allegedly through corruption,” he explained.

Six individuals have been designated as suspects: former Acting Governor Bahtiar Baharuddin; RM, director of contractor firm PT AAN; RE, director of PT CAP, the activity implementing body; HS, an adviser to the Acting Governor for 2023–2024; and RRS, a civil servant from Takalar Regency administration. UN, who served as Budget Authority (KPA) for the South Sulawesi Food Security, Food Crops, Horticulture and Plantation Office, has also been named. Bahtiar Baharuddin is detained at Maros Class II B Penitentiary, whilst four others are held at Gunung Sari Class IA Penitentiary in Makassar. UN remains at large owing to ill health.