Former State Secretary questioned

JAKARTA (JP): The Attorney General's Office questioned former state secretary Moerdiono on Tuesday in relation to a corruption case involving the dredging of the Mahakam River in East Kalimantan, which inflicted Rp 39 billion (US$3.9 million) in losses on the state.

Moerdiono, who arrived at the office's oval building at 9:45 a.m., testified before prosecutors D. Munthe and Suhardjono regarding the alleged involvement of Eddy Susanto, Hendrawarman Siregar, Almaden Lubis and Poedji Siswanto, Antara news agency reported.

The four businessmen have been suspected of marking up the value of a contract signed by the Indonesian government and Hong Kong-based Pacific Associated Inc. in October 1971 to dredge the river.

The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), which reviewed the project in December 1999, identified irregularities in the disbursement of Rp 27 billion from the Ministry of Transportation to finance the project.

According to Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), the fund was disbursed based on a letter from the state secretary.