Five detained for oil palm irregularities

Five detained for oil palm irregularities

JAMBI: The Jambi Prosecutor's Office detained on late Monday five
suspects late on Monday on charges of arising out of
irregularities in the provision of oil palm seedlings in the
province.

The five suspects are the Thamrin, the head of an oil palm
seedling provision project, and four others executives from two
private sector firms that had been hired by Thamrin to implement
the project.

"We are detaining them in order to facilitate the
investigation of the case," said Warsa Susanta, the deputy
special crimes director from the Jambi Prosecutor's Office.

The case first emerged last year when the East Tanjungjabung
regency Forestry and Plantation Agency checked whether some 600
farmers in the regency had received oil palm seedlings from the
government.

The agency discovered that the seedlings distributed to the
farmers fell far short of the government standard. The case was
reported to the police and prosecutors, and the investigation
eventually led to Thamrin, the project manager, who is also an
official from the Jambi provincial administration's Social
Affairs and People's Empowerment Agency. It is alleged that the
irregularities uncovered in the project cost the state Rp 900
million (US$94,736). -- JP