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.