Dossiers on Ancol scam to be given to court

Dossiers on Ancol scam to be given to court

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Prosecutor's Office will soon submit
to the courts the dossiers on three councillors who have been
declared suspects in a case involving a controversial foreign
trip, an official said on Thursday.

The chief of intelligence affairs at the prosecutor's office,
R.J. Soehandojo, said the office had completed its investigation
of the case.

"The case is ready to be turned over to the courts this month.
We are still waiting for the green light from the chief of the
Jakarta Prosecutor's Office," Soehandojo, a former spokesman for
the Attorney General's Office, said.

Soehandojo said that thus far the prosecutor's office had
named three councillors -- Tarmidi Soehardjo, Tarmidi Edi Suwarno
and Ali Imran Husein, as suspects in the case.

He said that further investigation might implicate other city
officials who took part in the trip.

"The issue of the President's permission to question Governor
Sutiyoso should not halt the investigation," Soehandojo said.

The prosecutor's office earlier said the absence of
presidential permission to question the governor had blocked the
investigation of city officials.

Tarmidi Soehardjo and Tarmidi Edi Suwarno, both from the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), and Ali
Imran Husein from the United Development Party (PPP) allegedly
received millions of rupiah in travel allowance, although they
did not take part in the trip to South Africa, Japan and
Australia in October last year.

The three councillors could not be reached for comment on
Thursday.

Several city officials and 16 city councillors took part in
the trip, officially called a comparative study. The trip was
financed by city-owned developer PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol.

Besides receiving travel allowances of between US$5,000 and
$10,000 from the developer, each person who went on the trip also
received a Rp 52 million travel allowance from the city budget.

PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol reportedly asked the councillors to
study several marine projects in the three countries, because the
developer was planning a similar project in Ancol, North Jakarta.

Sutiyoso sanctioned nine officials who took part in the trip,
but did not punish two other senior officials.

The City Council had asked the governor to impose sanctions
against the two senior officials -- City Development Agency chief
Bambang Soengkono and City Planning Agency chief Ahmaddin Ahmad
-- who allegedly "forced" the councillors to participate in the
trip.

In response to the outcry over their alleged involvement in
the case, Sutiyoso has said he will demand Bambang and Ahmaddin
retire. Both men have already reached retirement age. (jun)