Experts testify against Puteh in corruption case
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Experts testified at the graft trial of suspended Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh on Thursday and stated that the defendant violated administrative procedures in the purchase of a Russian-made chopper and that the aircraft was indeed a used product.
One witness, Sutrisno, a helicopter specialist from state- owned aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia, told the Anti-Corruption Court that the chopper was not a new aircraft as had been claimed by the Puteh camp to justify its high price tag.
"I inspected the aircraft in July 2004 and found that the left engine already had 1,518 flight hours and the right one 1,547 flight hours," he said.
"About 500 hours were used after the plane arrived in Indonesia, but the remaining 1,000 hours, which is roughly equal to two years, were already recorded before the chopper had been handed over to the Aceh administration."
Sutrisno explained that a new engine does not mean it has to have zero flight hours, but usually would be less than 25 flight hours.
Apart from that, it was not clear whether the helicopter was indeed bullet-proof as was also claimed. The chopper did not have any documents stating that it had bullet-proofing, the expert said.
Another expert, Adriansyah, the director of expenses and regional finance at the Ministry of Finance, told the court that the Aceh administration misused the Rp 9.1 billion that it paid for the helicopter.
"The Rp 9.1 billion provided by 13 regencies and cities in Aceh was not supposed to be used to buy the helicopter. It was part of "special treatment funds" from the central government for regencies and cities in provinces to deal with natural disasters, refugees and riots," he said.
The money should have also been allotted for routine expenditures, such as the payment of official salaries, added Adriansyah.
Puteh, being tried on charges of marking up the price of the MI-2 helicopter, had said the chopper cost some Rp 12.6 billion, including the Rp 9.1 billion from the 13 regental and municipal administration in Aceh.
Another expert, Handoyo Sudrajat of the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP), said the procedures in purchasing the helicopter contravened the financial administrative regulations.
"According to the regulations, all revenues and expenditures have to go to the provincial cashier. So, the use of a personal account is against the procedures," Handoyo told the judges.
Puteh had reportedly used his personal account to keep Rp 7.75 billion before paying PT Putra Pobiagan Mandiri (PPM), the broker in the helicopter purchase.
However, the suspended governor apparently returned Rp 3.6 billion of the Rp 7.75 billion to the provincial cashier after the Corruption Eradication Commission started the probe into his case.
Handoyo also said that based on the Aceh cashier's records, Puteh had caused Rp 13.7 billion in losses to the state over the purchase of the chopper, but since he had returned the Rp 3.6 billion, the losses decreased to Rp 10.1 billion.
Puteh's lawyers rejected the statements by Adriansyah and Handoyo, saying the two experts had no knowledge of the subjects they had testified about.
"Obviously Adriansyah is not an expert. He kept looking at his files when the judges asked for his opinion, while Handoyo was not the person who audited the province's balance sheet," said O.C. Kaligis, the chief lawyer for Puteh. (006)