Forestry officials graft suspects

Puji Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru

The Prosecutor's Office has named the head of the Kampar Forestry and Plantations Office (Kadishutbun), Kamril Nur, as a suspect in the embezzlement of Rp 3.8 billion (US$422,000) allocated for the development of an oil palm plantation in Kampar regency.

Prosecutors have also named the manager of the project, Repanis, as a suspect.

"They were charged as suspects after being questioned by prosecutors for a second time, and will be detained soon," Enita Menhar, a Riau Prosecutor's Office spokesman, said on Saturday.

The two would be detained on the grounds that they had not been cooperative during the investigation, said Enita.

Meanwhile, Edward, an assistant with the Riau Prosecutor's Office Special Crimes Unit, confirmed that the two suspects would be detained. "Both suspects will be held to expedite the investigation process, and we are preparing detention orders for both of them," said Edward.

The corruption case came to light after the Riau prosecutors unearthed irregularities in the agribusiness project in Kampar regency in 2003.

Based on the project blueprint, the government allocated Rp 3.8 billion for the planting of oil palms on 700 hectares of land. An additional sum of Rp 1.7 billion was provided for the maintenance of the oil palms.

The suspects claimed that the project had been completed recently, but when checked by the Kampar audit agency and the prosecutors, the palm oil project was found to only extend to 150 hectares of land rather than 700 hectares originally planned.