Corruption mars councillors' housing development
Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung
A Lampung-based corruption watchdog has revealed a conspiracy between the Lampung provincial legislative council and a real estate developer in the construction of 26 houses for councillors.
The construction of the 26 houses, the funds of which had been proposed by the legislative council to be taken from the 2002 supplementary budget, had reportedly begun in 1999, or three years before the project's proposal was submitted by the council.
"We traced the construction of the 26 houses three months ago. They are located in Sukabumi subdistrict, Sukarame district in Bandar Lampung. Residents in the surrounding neighborhood said the construction of the houses had begun in 1999 by construction firm PT Rendi Utama Jaya," said Coordinator of the Lampung Anticorruption Committee, Ahmad Yulden Erwin, on Friday.
Erwin said that due to strong public criticism of the alleged misuse of Lampung's provincial budget, the marking board on the construction site of the 26 houses had been removed two years ago.
Besides the construction of the councillors' housing, the legislative council is also seeking to obtain Rp 2 billion (US$222,222) from the council's routine budget for the procurement of 16 official cars for councillors.
For the current fiscal year, the Lampung provincial administration has allocated an extra budget of Rp 100 billion, which was collected from the 2001 provincial budget surplus, amounting to Rp 72.436 billion, the increase in revenue split from oil and gas worth Rp 19 billion, and the remaining Rp 10 billion from provincial revenue.
Previously, the deputy speaker of the Lampung provincial legislative council, Mochtar Hasan, said that one-third of the 75 council members would receive official housing this year.
Mochtar, however, denied allegations that the council had recommended certain developers to carry out the housing construction project.
President of PT Rendi Utama Jaya, Darwis Merawi, admitted that his company was building 26 houses for the councillors after securing the council's approval in 2000.
"The approval from Lampung provincial legislative council was issued on Oct. 9, 2000. Based on the council's approval, we then proceeded with the construction," Darwis said.
He said his company had secured a contract to develop houses, worth Rp 120 million each, for 75 Lampung provincial councillors in Sukarame district.
"But, for the initial phase, we will construct 26 houses first. The rest will be built after we obtain approval for the use of the provincial budget," he said.
A number of councillors contacted by The Jakarta Post declined to comment on the alleged conspiracy.
But rumors are rife that the legislative council had endorsed a number of projects carried out by the provincial offices of the state ministries, in return for fees provided by chief officers of the project based on a percentage of the project's value.
Government Decree No. 11o/2000 on the position and structural relationship between the House of Representatives and the lower provincial, regency-level legislative councils stipulates that councils are not supposed to get involved with any business deals or commercial projects.
In an attempt to escape the sanctions stipulated in the decree, the legislative council and the provincial administration reportedly came up with an understanding that it would be the provincial administration that would submit the project's proposals to secure the 2002 supplementary budget.
"So, as the proposal has come from the provincial administration, there will be no procedural violations in the implementation of the project," Erwin explained.
Erwin alleged that the provincial administration's willingness to take the initiative to submit the project's proposals was connected with incumbent Governor Oemarsono's plan to run for another gubernatorial term in the upcoming election in December.
"Therefore, it's natural to see all project proposals granted by the legislative council ... All of these are part of a conspiracy (to help smoothen Oemarsono's renomination)," he said.
He said the conspiracy began with the council's endorsement to the governor's accountability speech earlier this year as the move was then followed with the granting of Rp 1.2 billion to the councillors.
A councillor of the Justice Party (PK) faction, Abdul Hakim, however, said that not all councillors had taken the money from the governor.
"I and a councillor from the National Mandate Party (PAN) were among those who refused to take money," he said.