City official denies receiving cash from Ancol

City official denies receiving cash from Ancol

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Development Agency head Bambang Sungkono
denied on Wednesday allegations that he had received some
US$10,000 in cash from PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol before an
official trip to South Africa last month.

Speaking to journalists after undergoing a one-hour
interrogation at the city inspectorate on Wednesday, Bambang said
he had received an air ticket and accommodation worth $7,000 from
the company, but nothing in cash.

"I should have been given about Rp 20 million ($2,105) in cash
for expenses, but until now I have not received any of it and the
city administration has canceled the disbursement of it," Bambang
said.

He said the city administration did not provide him with an
allowance.

A travel agent told The Jakarta Post that the price of a
return ticket in executive class from Jakarta to Johannesburg on
Singapore Airlines was $1,400.

Aside from Bambang, City Land Agency chief Ahmaddin Ahmad was
grilled by City Inspector Hendarin Ono Saleh at the latter's
office.

Reliable sources at the city administration earlier disclosed
that each of the three senior city officials, including
Ahmaddin's deputy, Nurfakih, on their visit to South Africa
received between $5,000 and $10,000 in cash from PT Pembangunan
Jaya Ancol, which is 80 percent owned by the city administration.

"Pak Ahmaddin and I had a little conversation with the city
inspectorate chief. We told them everything we knew about the
trip," Bambang said about the questioning.

He is slated for more interrogating at the Jakarta
Prosecutor's Office on Thursday. The rest of the 40 people named
in the controversial overseas trip, including 14 councillors,
will follow suit.

The case, which was unveiled last week, centers on allegations
that PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol, the developer of the Ancol
recreation park in North Jakarta, paid Rp 2.1 billion to fund a
trip for a group of councillors and city officials between Oct. 9
and Oct. 15.

The city administration allocated Rp 13 billion from its
budget for the current fiscal year to pay the journey and other
official trips, known as "comparison studies".

The group was divided into three destinations -- South Africa,
Australia and Japan. The case initially involved only those
people on the trip to South Africa, which was officially aimed at
allowing the visiting councillors and officials to study the
waterfront reclamation project in Cape Town.

The management of PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol and those
participating in the trip have denied the allegations. 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 Pelindo II.

Sources at the city administration office also revealed that
on Oct. 6, president director of PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol
Rushadi wrote Governor Sutiyoso to tell him that the $270,000
needed for the journey would be split between the company and PT
Pelindo II.

Ancol would provide $180,000, while Pelindo II the rest, the
sources said.

In his reply the next day, the governor said the fund was too
much for the city administration, which was trying to step up
efficiency as the economic crisis remained unabated.

As the case made headlines on Nov. 30, Rushadi sent a letter
to City Council Speaker Edy Waluyo, telling him that the firm
merely paid the travel costs and would be reimbursed by the city.

One of the sources said Rushadi would also be questioned at
the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office.(dja)