Bribery mars Riau debate: Sources

Haidir Anwar Tanjung, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru

All members of the Riau provincial legislative council and a number of legislators in the House of Representatives have taken bribes regarding the proposed formation of Riau Islands (Kepri) province, according to reliable sources.

Tabrani Rab, a member of the Regional Autonomy Advisory Council (DPOD), said that 32 members of the provincial legislature had been bribed to support the formation of the new province.

According to reliable sources in the legislative council, however, all 55 members of the council had been bribed.

Tabrani said that of the 32 councillors involved in the case, 24 had received part of a promised Rp 50 million each and one a full payment.

"A councillor has admitted he received Rp 50 million in the middle of August, 2002, because he along with his wife wanted to go on pilgrimage (to Saudi Arabia)," he told The Jakarta Post here on Saturday.

He also said a number of members of the special committee set up by the House of Representatives in Jakarta to prepare the bill on the formation of Riau Islands province had also been bribed to win their support for the proposed province.

The provincial legislature has opposed the establishment of the proposed province. Out of 55 councillors, only 25 cast their votes in favor of the proposal during a plenary session several months ago, while 32 rejected it.

The 25 councillors were from the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) factions.

The Riau prosecutor's office is still investigating the reported misuse of funds worth Rp 87.2 billion belonging to the Riau Islands regency administration following a recent audit conducted by the Supreme Audit Agency. The funds were allegedly used by Regent Huzrin Hood to finance the campaign for the new province.

So far, seven officials close to Huzrin have been interrogated but so far none have been charged as suspects.

Asked about the money paid out to legislators supporting the proposed province, Tabrani said the bribes were paid by a senior officer from the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), and were reportedly derived from the Riau Islands regency government.

"We suspect the funds came from Riau Island Regent Husrin Hood and distributed through a two-star Army officer serving with BIN, but the case is still being investigated by the police," he said.

Tabrani who once called for a change to a federal state from the current unitary state, regretted that money politics and bribery underlay the campaign for the proposed province, saying the further advancement of the proposal would be difficult in the future as it had been tainted with bribery.

"More and more people will oppose the proposal as they know it is based on the local elite's political interests and not on the well-being of the people," he said.

Provincial legislative council speaker Chaidir concurred and said the legislative council would set up a special committee to investigate the case.

"The legislature has recently decided to set up a committee of inquiry to investigate all the puzzling circumstances behind the campaign for the new province," he said.

But, reliable sources in the provincial legislative council have said that the 32 councillors opposing the establishment of the proposed province had also received bribes amounting to between Rp 60 million and Rp 75 million from Governor Saleh Djasit through his staff.

"We have strong evidence that those on the opposition side also took bribes to join forces with the provincial administration in opposing the proposal," said the source, who requested anonymity.

Despite the House's political support, the central government has decided to stop for the time being the deliberation of the bill on the new province while awaiting the results of an in- depth study into the feasibility of the Riau archipelago being established as a new province.

Besides the Riau provincial administration's objections, Natuna Regency, which is located in the Riau archipelago, has also opposed the proposal, while Batam will support it only if the capital of the proposed province is located on the industrial island.