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.