Dam project head denies graft allegation

Dam project head denies graft allegation

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

Leks Laksmana, a former head of the Jatigede dam project, denied
on Friday any graft in the Rp 8 trillion (US$963.8 million)
project in Sumedang, West Java.

"The charge by the Bandung Legal Aid Institute (LBH Bandung)
is baseless," said Laksmana, who headed the project from 2000 to
2001.

LBH Bandung claimed that it had uncovered evidence of
corruption during a fact-finding inquiry into the acquisition of
land for the dam in two villages in Sumedang regency last year by
a private company and a team of nine government officials. The
corruption, the institute alleged, took place between 1982 and
2002.

Laksmana said the charge had disparaged the project head, the
private company and the team members from the Ministry
Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure.

The team, which was tasked to determine the price of land to
be acquired for the projects, consists of people from the
Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure, the State
Land Agency, the district head and the subdistrict head.

"Certainly, I did not commit corruption because I just paid
the amount of money (for land) decided by the members of the
team," he said.

He said if there were any irregularities in the land
acquisition, they must have occurred from 1980 to 1985, or 1995
to 1997, before he became head of the project.

He also said it would be impossible for the project head to be
involved in any corruption because he had no control over the
money for the land acquisition.

"I only distributed the money from the bank to the bank
accounts of the land owners. I distributed the money in line with
lists made by the team of 9, and that can be verified," he said.

Leks added that he would not sue the LBH for defamation,
saying the institute was just playing its role in ensuring the
transparency of the project.

The LBH alleged that a private firm and government officials
embezzled at least Rp 5 billion of the Rp 8 trillion earmarked to
compensate residents of Cisurat and Cibuluh villages who lost
their land to the dam.

The LBH also alleged that the project was again tainted by
corruption between 2000 and 2002, when the Ministry of
Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure valued 1.17 hectares of
land in Cisurat worth Rp 1 billion, but residents only received
Rp 58 million for the land.

Dudung Sumahdumin, who took over the helm of project in 2003,
also asserted that there was no corruption in the project.

"I have checked the bookkeeping of the project, which has been
recorded since 1982, and there are no indications that any graft
happened," he said.

He said that so far 2,653 hectares out of a total of 4,896
hectares needed for the project had been acquired.

The dam, which will help irrigate 130,000 hectares of farmland
in the northern part of the province, is expected to put an end
to drought and flooding in the area. Construction on the dam is
expected to begin in early 2005.