Forestry graft probe has no teeth: ICW
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)