Eight motorbikes returned to DLLAJ in poor condition

Eight motorbikes returned to DLLAJ in poor condition

JAKARTA (JP): Head of the City Traffic and Land Transportation
Agency (DLLAJ) Rustam Effendy said on Monday that eight of 11
Harley Davidson motorbikes privately used by former and current
officials, have been returned but most of them are in poor
condition.

"The eight motorbikes have been returned. They are now in
DLLAJ's warehouses," Rustam told reporters at City Hall, without
mentioning when the motorbikes were returned.

He said most of the eight motorbikes, which were used to guard
presidents and prime ministers during the 1992 Non-Aligned
Movement Summit here, were damaged.

He said the remaining three motorbikes were deployed for
official use for City Governor Sutiyoso, deputy governor for
administrative affairs Abdul Kahfi and head of the City's Social
and Political Agency Dodi Sudarno.

"I have signed letters about the official use of the three
motorbikes," Rustam said.

Besides Sutiyoso, Kahfi and Dodi, according to DLLAJ's record,
former governor Wiyogo Admodarminto, City Council chairman Edy
Waluyo, councillor Ali Imran Husein and six DLLJ's officials also
"borrowed" the motorbikes.

A source said Edy's Harley was returned a day before the
controversial news was broadcast by newspapers on Friday, while
the remaining seven motorbikes were quickly returned over the
following days.

Meanwhile, councillor Ali of the United Development Party
(PPP) admitted that he had asked the former chief of DLLAJ,
Buyung Atang, to loan him the motorbike.

"But the motorbike was stripped bare of its parts and
accessories. It only had two tires and its frame left," Ali told
reporters.

He later returned it after he learned from a workshop on Jl.
Kebon Sirih, Central Jakarta that the repair work would cost him
Rp 90 million (US$10,000).

He regretted that DLLAJ forgot to delete his name from the
list of officials who borrowed the bikes.

"I haven't even had a chance to touch the motorbike. I have
contacted DLLAJ, they have apologized for this," he said.

Ali's opinion was that the news was spread by another
councillor who wanted to have the motorbike but found that none
of them were available.

"I know the councillor. He was just disappointed because he
did not get the motorbike," he said, without mentioning the name
of the councillor.

Separately, councillor Audi I.Z. Tambunan of the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) doubted that the 11
motorbikes had been returned.

"I checked the warehouse this morning, the motorbikes have not
been returned," said Audi, who chairs the party's faction at the
council.

He also criticized Effendy for allowing Sutiyoso, Kahfi and
Dodi to borrow the bikes, especially as Kahfi and Dodi were never
officially guarded.

He rebuked DLLAJ for the lack of transparency regarding the
motorbikes. If the office plans to sell them at auction, this
should be held openly, he said.

According to government regulations, a piece of government
property can only be auctioned 10 years after it is bought. It
means that the motorbikes could be auctioned next year. (jun)