Council members questioned AGO

SAMARINDA: The Attorney General's Office (AGO) is being taken to task for trying to stop a probe into the former head of the forestry office, who is a suspect in a plantation scam.

The East Kalimantan provincial council said on Tuesday it would ask for clarification from the office about why it issued a letter saying investigations against Robian would be halted.

The chairman of the council's special team, Dahri Yasin, on Tuesday said the councillors wanted information about the legal basis of the letter, which was issued by the AGO in early 2004.

He said the council team was still preparing its case against Robian. "Once the necessary data is complete, then we will bring (the case) to the authority," he said.

In 1999, then East Kalimantan governor Suwarna AF granted a palm oil plantation permit to Surya Dumai Group to plant 440,000 hectares of oil palms in the Nunukan area.

It was later discovered that the trees were never planted. -- JP