Council probed over alleged markup

Council probed over alleged markup

Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam, Riau

The Batam Prosecutor's Office is investigating an alleged markup
on 45 Pentium IV desktop computers allocated to the Batam
Legislative Council (DPRD II) last year, a senior prosecutor said
on Tuesday.

The head of special crimes at the office, Bambang Setyadi,
said his team would question immediately officials of the
legislative secretariat, telecommunications giant Indonesian
Satellite Corporation (PT Indosat Tbk) as procurer of the
computers and those Batam councillors allegedly involved in the
Rp 2.1 billion (US$250,000) scandal.

"We have just assigned several of our staff members to collect
data from the Batam DPRD secretariat and the procurement
contractor. Pak Yasin (a council member) has also been contacted
for information, as he was the first to reveal his suspicions of
the irregularity," Bambang told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Bambang was referring to Muhammad Yasin from the National
Mandate Party (PAN) faction, who questioned the accountability
speech given in early April by Batam Mayor Nyat Kadir.

When contacted separately, Yasin said his suspicion was raised
over the value of the project recorded in the accountability
speech, as the price of the computers were above normal.

He became more suspicious after checking the price of a
Pentium IV at various computer shops in Batam and found that the
average price of a desktop computer of that type was only Rp 7
million per unit. According to this price, then the project
should cost only Rp 315 million for 45 Pentiums.

The mayor's accountability report set the value of the project
at Rp 2.1 billion, or seven times the normal price.

Aside from the alleged graft, the project has also violated a
Presidential Decree, as any projects worth more than Rp 150
million must conduct an open tender, said Yasin.

Instead, the Batam legislative secretariat had directly
appointed PT Indosat as procurer, he said.

Meanwhile, the secretary of the Batam legislative council,
Said Aqil Alatas, said he was ready to be examined in connection
with the procurement project, declaring that there was no
corruption. He said the project was a staggering Rp 2.1 billion
because the price also included the costs of training, networking
and setting up a Website for the legislative council.

PT Indosat Riau Islands manager Respati Nugroho ruled out any
corruption in the project. He said the value of the project had
expanded to Rp 2.1 billion because aside from the desktops, it
was also used to procure other hardware, such as printers, and
software such as a licensed e-mail application and a Cisco
network security system.