Ancol found guilty of financing overseas trips

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso revealed on Friday that PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol was proven guilty for disbursing Rp 2.1 billion (US$220,000) to finance overseas trips of councilors and city officials without his consent.

Sutiyoso said he would take appropriate measures to penalize the director of the Ancol leisure complex developer, while the City Inspectorate would determine the penalty for other city officials which were also involved in the case.

"I will not hesitate to dismiss Ancol's director if I have too. Just wait for my decision next Monday," said the governor after Friday prayers at the City Hall.

PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol is part of PT Pembangunan Jaya chain, of which more than 80 percent of its shares are owned by the city administration. Governor Sutiyoso is chief commissioner of the latter company.

The Ancol scam, which has been making headlines since November last year, centers on allegations that PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol paid Rp 2.1 billion to fund overseas trips dubbed "comparison studies" for a group of 45 people comprising of councilors and city officials between Oct. 9 and Oct. 15. to three destinations -- South Africa, Australia and Japan.

Sutiyoso also said that city officials involved in the case would be punished in accordance to their mistakes as some of them canceled their trips and returned their allowance.

The management of PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol and those participating in the trip have repeatedly denied the allegation. They claim the firm paid the travel costs in advance and that the money was to be repaid from the city budget and money provided by Tanjung Priok seaport operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II.

Meanwhile, the city administration allocated Rp 13 billion from its budget for the current fiscal year to pay for the trips.

The case is still being handled by the City Inspectorate and the City Prosecutors' Office, which is conducting investigations into 40 people, including 14 councilors.

On Friday, Sutiyoso said the City Inspectorate had reported the results of their investigation and it was being reviewed by the Honorary Employees' Board, comprising of all the top leaders in the city administration office.

He said the report had been brought to PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol's extraordinary shareholder meeting this week, but no decision had been reached due to the lack of a public accountant's presence.

"Ancol proposed US$270,000 to finance the comparison study trips. But, the company disbursed funds amounting to $311,286 before I answered the proposal," he said.

Earlier reports said there were possibilities that those 40 city officials and councilors had received a double allowance for the trip, namely one allowance from the city budget and one from PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol.

A source at the City Inspectorate said at least four staffers at the City Council Secretary, who joined the overseas trips, were proved to have received a double allowance.

So far, the officials in question have denied the allegation, saying that they only received a return air ticket and an accommodation allowance from the developer, while the city budget gave them nothing.

Among the city officials interrogated were Jakarta Development Agency Bambang Sungkono, the City Land Agency chief Ahmaddin Ahmad and his deputy Nurfakih.

The investigation also included a travel agent, Casa Holiday, which arranged the trips and cash flow.

There is speculation that irregularities were mostly found in transfers of money between certain parties, namely PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol, Pelindo II, the City Council, city administration office and the travel agent itself. (07)