Dolog Jaya boss quizzed over dubious transaction
JAKARTA (JP): The city police questioned the city's logistics agency (Dolog Jaya) head Ahmad Zawawi on Wednesday for almost five hours over alleged illegal rice transactions and rice exports to Kuching, Malaysia.
Zawawi, who left the economics unit of the city police detectives department at 2:30 p.m., refused to go into detail about the questioning.
"I'm a witness, not a suspect. I just talked (with the interrogators)," Zawawi told reporters, then quickly got into his sedan and left the city police headquarters.
City police spokesman Lt. Col. Edward Aritonang confirmed that Zawawi had been questioned as a witness.
But, the officer added, the police investigation might also lead to the Dolog Jaya boss becoming a suspect.
"During today's questioning, we only asked him about general matters, such as the mechanism of rice distribution," Aritonang said.
He said the police planned to question Zawawi again some time in the future.
According to Aritonang, the city police have found strong indications of recent violations at Dolog Jaya in allocating rice to its distributors.
Normally, he said, distributors have to line-up at Dolog Jaya to get a notice signed by the agency's head.
The notice, called Surat Perintah Setor (SPS), states the quantity of rice to be allocated to a distributor and the amount of money to be paid to the agency through Bank Bukopin, Aritonang explained.
Dolog Jaya's head had the authority to determine rice allocations, he said.
After paying for the rice at the bank, distributors receive delivery orders which are used to take the rice from the agency's warehouses, the officer said.
Speed service
"But, based on witnesses' testimonies, Zawawi often received distributors at his office after working hours," Aritonang told the media.
The police, he added, had also learned that distributors could obtain an SPS in two ways: the normal procedure which forces one to spend hours in long queues, and the so-called "shortcut".
People who chose the shortcut usually received larger amounts of rice, he said.
Aritonang refused to disclose whether Zawawi asked for money from distributors who took the shortcut.
"You can easily draw your own conclusions," he said.
Besides Zawawi, the police have so far questioned four other Dolog Jaya officials: deputy head Saean Ahmad and senior staff members Edi H., Mulia S. and Edi S., all from the distribution unit, he said.
None of them have been charged in connection with the case.
Zawawi was questioned in regard to last week's arrest of 15 people at Zawawi's office in North Jakarta for allegedly possessing illegal rice delivery orders.
His questioning was also in connection with the discovery of 1,900 tons of rice at Sunda Kelapa Port in North Jakarta.
The rice, police said, was to be shipped to Kuching.
Nine people were arrested at the time. Four of the nine have been named as suspects, while the remaining five were released as police found that they were only workers.
Meanwhile, the City Council urged the authorities on Wednesday to temporarily relieve Zawawi and the four staff members from their jobs.
"While the Dolog Jaya officials are still under police questioning, the responsible parties should relieve them of their jobs soon," council speaker Edy Walujo said.
By doing so, the officials would no longer have access to the office to, for example, throw away important evidence, such as files related to the cases, he said.
"These men, if found guilty, should be punished with the maximum penalties as a warning to other officials. I really believe there are many qualified and clean officials that could replace them," Edy added. (jun/ida)