Bureaucracy hampers W. Java graft probe
The Jakarta Post, Cirebon/Bandung/Makassar
A senior prosecutor of the West Java Prosecutor's Office asserted on Tuesday that the office was serious about investigating a Rp 25 billion (US$ 2.6 million) graft case allegedly involving 100 provincial councillors.
Deputy chief of special crimes Muhammad Jusuf refuted the criticism that prosecutors had dragged their feet and were not serious about the case, arguing that the slow pace was determined by a long bureaucratic process.
He said prosecutors had filed a request last month with the Attorney General's Office and the Ministry of Home Affairs on questioning the councillors.
"We sent a request on May 14 to the Ministry of Home Affairs on questioning the six councillors, including the West Java Council Speaker, but we never received a reply," he said.
Jusuf called on the ministry to expedite permission to allow the prosecutors to begin investigating the case, so the matter could be cleared up immediately for the public.
The case made headlines four last year, but the investigation only covered three councillors at that time.
The graft case dates back to a 2000 council meeting, when councillors proposed that they should be allocated Rp 250 million (US$26,332) each in property allowance to buy land.
The proposal was approved by council executives, although the final allocation was much lower than the proposed amount, and each councillor received Rp 33.375 million ($3,553).
However, the allowance was not drawn from the special budget, but from a law enforcement fund to be distributed to the West Java Police and provincial prosecutors' office, among others.
Three councillors were named suspects in a February 2003 investigation: Kurdi Moekri, Suyaman and Suparno, who initiated the proposal.
Since then, bureaucratic processes have prevented prosecutors from investigating the remaining 97 councillors.
Meanwhile, the West Java administration is auditing Rp 27.5 billion in election funds distributed to 25 local governments in the province for the April 5 legislative election.
The audit is being conducted in response to numerous complaints alleging graft in regional management of election funds, said West Java deputy governor Nu'man Abdul Hakim.
"Only through an audit can we uncover the irregularity," he said in Cirebon regency.
Separately, the home ministry's inspectorate general has frozen the bank account of the South Sulawesi Council on suspicions of graft. As a result, the council's treasurer has been unable to make any transactions or pay salaries.
Syamsuddin, a council secretary, confirmed the measure undertaken by the inspectorate general, but quickly denied that it was connected to alleged corruption.
"The account has been frozen since last Friday, as the inspectorate general is conducting an annual audit," he said.
The alleged graft was brought to light after a lecturer at a private university in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi, revealed an irregularity in the distribution of funds to councillors, including a Rp 6.8 billion allowance, the purpose of which was unknown.