Ex-mayor confirms Tanah Abang plan in 'Tempo' case
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Long before fire ravaged the Tanah Abang market, a property company had submitted a proposal to the Central Jakarta municipality to renovate the market, according to a witness called by the prosecution testifying in the case of businessman Tomy Winata versus Tempo magazine.
Former Central Jakarta mayor Andi Syukur Abdullah said on Monday that sometime in August 2001, toward the end of his tenure, he received a proposal for the market renovation -- which was slated to cost around Rp 50 billion (US$5.8 million), although the city did not hold an open bid for the project.
"I can't quite recall which property company submitted the proposal, but it was not Tomy Winata or his Artha Graha Group," Andi told the Central Jakarta District Court.
When pressed by Tempo's lawyer, he said, "Actually I am not quite sure which company had submitted the proposal, because Artha Graha has so many subsidiaries."
Businessman Tomy Winata who leads Artha Graha is suing Tempo for mentioning in its March 3 edition that an anonymous source said some time before the fire he had seen a proposal from Tomy's company for the renovation of Tanah Abang market, the biggest textile market in Southeast Asia. The proposal stated the cost of renovation at Rp 53 billion.
The edition came out two weeks after a fire destroyed the huge market on Feb. 19 which supports the livelihood of thousands of people.
Tempo chief editor Bambang Harymurti and journalists Ahmad Taufik and T. Iskandar Ali have been charged with publishing a report that could provoke public disorder which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Another witness, Agusdin Susanto, an official with the city administration's legal bureau, told the court that Governor Sutiyoso himself had issued a letter saying that the well- connected businessman had not submitted a proposal to the city administration for rebuilding the market.
He said that Sutiyoso's letter was issued on March 13 to respond to a written request from Tomy's lawyer Desmond J. Mahesa who asked clarification on whether his client had ever submitted such a proposal. The request was also made on March 13.
"I was ordered by the head of my bureau to draft the letter at 10 a.m. and it was signed by Governor Sutiyoso at 1 p.m.," he said. Agusdin said that it was the first time during his stint in the bureau, that the Governor had responded so quickly.
The letter from Sutiyoso was one among other documents seized by Jakarta Police detectives as evidence in the libel suit. The seizure of the document has ignited further legal complications, after the Tempo defense lawyers accused the police of using fraudulent documents as evidence.
Presiding judge Andriani Nurdin adjourned the trial -- the only hearing held by the district court in the first weekday after the Idul Fitri holiday -- until Dec. 8 to hear more witnesses.