Dumai mayor named suspect in logging scam
Puji Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru
Wan Syamsir Yus, the mayor of Dumai municipality in Riau province, has been named a suspect in a graft case for permitting logging in a protected forest, prosecutors said on Monday.
Riau Prosecutor's Office spokesperson Enita Menhar said the charges against the mayor were filed by the Attorney General's Office in Jakarta.
She said Wan Syamsir was summoned on Aug. 5 by her office for questioning at the Attorney General's Office. The mayor complied with the summons five days later, a source told The Jakarta Post.
"We have carried out an instruction by the attorney general to summon the Duman mayor as a suspect in the case," Enita said.
The graft investigation had been hampered by the absence of permission from outgoing President Megawati Soekarnoputri to question Wan Syamsir. Permission was granted on June 22.
Wan Syamsir has been charged with corruption for issuing a permit to log 60,000 hectares of the protected Senepis forest that serves as a buffer conservation area for Sumatra tigers.
Aside from violating forestry laws, the mayor is also accused of exceeding his authority by issuing such a permit, which is the domain of the Ministry of Forestry.
The mayor reportedly issued the permit in order to generate funds to support the Dumai administration.
However, it was not clear how much financial losses the state has suffered due to the issuance of the unlawful permit.
In a separate case, Riau Prosecutor's Office resumed on Monday investigating alleged corruption worth some Rp 1.125 billion (US$125,000) involving the entire legislative council in Kampar regency for the 1999- 2004 term.
"Today we resume the investigation into the misuse of funds from Kampar's 2002-2004 budgets, after we took a break due to the Sept. 20 presidential election runoff," Enita said.
She said prosecutors questioned on Monday the finance section head at the Kampar administration. M. Ali, and former councillor Mangara P. Siahaan as witnesses.
Enita could not say when her office would name suspects. "After carrying out the investigation, we will still have to evaluate the case to determine whether we will continue the probe or stop it if there is sufficient evidence," she said.
She said the prosecution had questioned most of the former Kampar councillors as witnesses, including ex-council speaker Syaifuddin Effendi.