Forestry graft probe has no teeth: ICW
JAKARTA (JP): The government effort to probe prominent businesspeople's alleged involvement in corruption in the forestry sector is doomed to failure because of the probability investigators are also corrupt, experts said.
Coordinator of Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) Teten Masduki said he doubted offenders would be tried and prosecuted despite strong evidence because the country's law officers could be "bought".
"I doubt that any of the tycoons will be punished because the attorneys and judges can easily be bribed. As long as (the former president) Soeharto lives, none of his family or acquaintances can be touched by law officers," he told The Jakarta Post recently.
Director of Forest Watch Indonesia Abdon Nababan also expressed skepticism, saying that the process of verifying documents and collecting hard evidence was hampered by the uncooperative attitude of officials at the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations.
He told the Post on Saturday many ministry officials were accustomed to taking bribes.
"Many officials are afraid the investigation of the corruption cases will lead to (evidence of) their own involvement," he said.
He called on the ministry to first deal with its corrupt officials before going into battle against powerful timber companies.
Teten and Abdon were commenting on the ongoing investigation into timber magnates Mohamad "Bob" Hasan, Probosutedjo and Prayogo Pangestu and the eldest daughter of former president Soeharto, Siti Hardijanti "Tutut" Rukmana by the Attorney General's Office on allegations of corruption, collusion and nepotism, known locally by the acronym KKN, under the patronage of Soeharto.
The office has put Bob Hasan in custody since early this month as a suspect for US$87 million in misuse of reforestation funds through his forest aerial mapping company PT Mapindo Parama.
The office has also begun an investigation of Tutut's younger brother Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra for allegedly diverting Rp 54 billion ($6.9 million) of the forestry ministry's project funds through his air charter company PT Gatari Air Service.
Several officials, including former ministers of forestry and plantations Hasrul Harahap and Djamaludin Soerjohadikusumo, have been questioned in relation to Hasan's case.
The Ministry of Forestry and Plantations recently revealed the names of 12 high-ranking officials who were allegedly involved in collusion and bribery with Hasan.
Minister of Forestry and Plantations Nur Mahmudi Ismail said in early April that several businesspeople currently under investigation attempted to hamper the process by lobbying and attempting to bribe officials both at his office and at the Attorney General's Office.
Mahmudi also said that someone had tried to bribe him by transferring some Rp 25 billion to his bank account.
Teten said he believed the tycoons were guilty of corruption.
"It's impossible for them to obtain such oversize timber plantation areas if it were not for their close association with Soeharto."
He said the four tycoons' timber companies controlled about 58 million hectares, or about 30 percent of the country's total forest areas allocated for timber plantations or industrial forest estates.
He argued it would not be difficult to bring the cases to trial because the documents and evidence were already in hand. He added both the ICW and the ministry conducted investigations and collected sufficient data.
According to the ministry's investigative report, which Teten said the ministry had tried to conceal, Hasan along with Tutut, Prayogo and Probosutedjo were allegedly involved in corruption and misuse of reforestation funds totaling Rp 784 billion. (cst)