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