Governor urged to dismiss zoo officials

Governor urged to dismiss zoo officials

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city council urged Governor Sutiyoso on Thursday to
dismiss officials at city-owned Ragunan Zoo for trying to bribe
city councillors.

Chairman of the council's Commission B for economic affairs
Syarief Zulkarnain said the governor should fire the zoo's
general affairs head Allen Marbun for trying to bribe the
commission members with Rp 90 million (US$900).

"The zoo's director, Ismianto, should be fired too if he had
ordered the bribe to be paid," Zulkarnain told reporters.

He claimed that Marbun approached him and offered the money
after the councillors had inspected the zoo on Monday afternoon,
following a hearing in the morning when the councillors suspected
irregularities in the spending of zoo funds by the zoo's
management.

However, Sutiyoso did not respond positively to the
councillors' proposal regarding the dismissal of the zoo
officials. Instead, he regretted that the councillors had drawn
the media's attention to the issue before consulting him.

"The councillors should not act like a judiciary body. They
are legislators who should have spoken to me first before talking
to the media," the governor told reporters at City Hall.

He also regretted that some newspapers had incorrectly stated
that rehabilitation of five toilets at the zoo had cost Rp 18.7
billion.

Asked about the bribery issue, Sutiyoso promised to take stern
action against his subordinates if they were found guilty of
bribing the councillors.

"We will take punitive action against them if they are found
guilty. If a crime has been committed, it will depend on the
court to decide what to do," Sutiyoso said.

Councillor Zulkarnain of the United Development Party said
that when Allen had offered the money on Monday he had refused
it, as the zoo's official could not explain what the money was
for.

Zulkarnain suspected the money was intended to buy the silence
of councillors who had questioned the zoo's rehabilitation
projects worth Rp 18.7 billion.

"The rehabilitation projects had never been discussed before.
That's why we questioned them," he said.

Among the projects were the renovation of five toilets each
costing more than Rp 200 million and five different projects each
costed at Rp 500 million.

The 2001 city budget allocates Rp 27.5 billion for various
projects in the zoo. For next year, the zoo proposed Rp 55
billion for its projects.

Separately, Allen denied on Thursday that he had tried to
bribe the councillors.

"It's slander. I never did that," he said.

Allen admitted though that he had offered the councillors
money, but he emphasized that it was not a bribe. He said it was
lawful and was a fee payment for the councillors, who had been
involved in the process of land acquisition at Ragunan zoo.

"If they don't want the money, it depends on them. But it is
lawful and is in accordance with the regulations," he said,
without elaborating.