Councillor received Rp 20m bribe

Councillor received Rp 20m bribe

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Councillor Ugiek Soegihardjo, from the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), the largest party on the City
Council, admitted on Wednesday that he had received Rp 20 million
(US$2,137) from the company that managed the Jakarta Fair Grounds
in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.

"I still have the money. I am considering reporting the
company for bribery," Ugiek, who is also a member of a special
council committee investigating irregularities in PT Jakarta
International Trade Fair, a joint venture involving the city.

He revealed that he was contacted last month by city secretary
Moerdiman, who stated that there was some money for him from PT
JITF.

He said the money, which was wrapped in a sheet of newspaper,
had been given to Moerdiman by the PDI Perjuangan's faction
chairman Agung Imam Sumanto.

Asked whether his colleagues had also received money from the
company, Ugiek replied:"I don't know."

Ugiek was commenting on the statement made by PT JITF's
President Edward Surjadjaja, who said that the council's special
team was useless.

The special committee consists of 26 councillors drawn from
the council's 11 factions.

Separately, Edward said on Wednesday that the special
committee had found nothing new in its investigation into the
company.

"The special committee is nothing," Edward told reporters
after meeting Governor Sutiyoso to report on the company's plan
to hold the Jakarta Fair from June 14 to July 14 in Kemayoran.

Asked about his earlier statement that Ugiek would be reported
to the police for defamation, Edward said," No. Its over. Even
the Jakarta Fair's committee chairman is a PDI Perjuangan
member."

The fair's committee chairman is Guruh Soekarnoputra, the
youngest brother of President Megawati Soekarnoputri. Guruh
accompanied Edward during the meeting.

The council's special committee earlier recommended to the
administration and the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office that a probe
be conducted into various alleged irregularities, including the
sale of a 10-hectare plot of land worth Rp 30 billion in
Kemayoran that was said to belong to the company.

The company is partly owned by the city, Edward's firm PT
Griya Nusa Pradhana, the state-run Kemayoran Authority and the
Japan Development Corporation.