Gembira Loka Zoo manager grilled over money politics

Gembira Loka Zoo manager grilled over money politics

Asip A. Hasani, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

The Yogyakarta provincial prosecutor's office summoned the
Gembiro Loka Zoo's general manager, Joko Tirtono, on Thursday in
connection with his involvement in the alleged money politics
behind the Yogyakarta deputy gubernatorial election last October.

The prosecutors who grilled the suspect were, however, not
available for comment.

Joko, who has been accused of having given a total of Rp 1
billion in bribes to certain members of the provincial
legislative council to get them to vote for Pakualam IX, who is
also the cofounder of the foundation running the zoo, denied his
alleged role in the money politics case.

"There was a recent report in Kompas's that the manager of an
"animal business" in Yogyakarta was asked to pay Rp 1 billion to
council members ... but that's not me!" he said when asked about
his alleged involvement in the case following his questioning by
the local prosecutor's office.

He acknowledged that he was interviewed by a Kompas reporter
on Dec. 17, but said he had not discussed the question of money
politics being behind the deputy governor's election.

Quoting a reliable source, the daily reported on Jan. 27,
2002, that the owner of the "animal business" admitted to having
been asked to hand over Rp 1 billion to buy votes for Pakualam IX
in the deputy gubernatorial election.

Members of Yogyakarta provincial legislature have come under
strong criticism from the public over two alleged bribery
scandals. They are charged with taking Rp 150 million in bribes
from construction company PT. Adhi Karya, which won the tender
for the building of the Rp 42.5 billion Jogja Expo Center (JEC)
from the provincial government. They were also allegedly involved
in money politics during the deputy gubernatorial election by
asking Joko to provide a total of Rp 1 billion in bribes.

The local chapter of the Justice Party (PK) revealed evidence
of the money politics to the public. PK branch chairman Agus
Purnomo said recently that his party's sole legislator, Boedi
Dewantoro, had been offered a Rp 35 million bribe from a
candidate in the deputy gubernatorial election.

The provincial legislative council elected Pakualam IX deputy
governor on October last year, defeating his only challenger
prince (KPH) Angling Kusumo, who is also his step brother.
Pakulam IX was sworn in as deputy governor on Jan. 16, 2002.

Joko said that paying such a large sum of money would be
impossible for Gembiro Loka as it could generate revenue of only
some Rp 3 billion to 4 billion per year.

"Come to the zoo and see if the monkeys and other animals we
have there are suffering from hunger. Come on!
"Paying out a sum of money like that would have forced us to cut
our feed budget for the animals in the zoo," he said.

Head of the public relations section of the Yogyakarta
provincial prosecutor's office Ranu Mihardja, however, said that
his office would continue to investigate the alleged money
politics scandal despite Joko's denial.

"It's too late to stop our investigation now. We've
just questioned one person, and we'll question more
people," he said.