Governor's wife admits to owning homes

Governor's wife admits to owning homes

Yuliansyah, The Jakarta Post, Banjarmasin

The wife of South Kalimantan Governor Sjachriel Darham,
Herlinawati, contradicted on Monday earlier statements by her
husband, saying the couple did own two luxury houses in Pulomas,
East Jakarta, and another in Malang, East Java.

Under mounting public pressure, Sjachriel earlier said that
one of the two houses in Pulomas belonged to his son-in-law, who
is married to his daughter Ira Erliyanti.

"The one located in Block VI-A is our house, but another one
in Block VI-B belongs to my son-in-law, not to my family,"
Sjachriel said.

The governor also stated that if necessary, he was willing to
be questioned by the Public Servants Wealth Audit Commission
(KPKPN) about his assets.

However, Sjachriel was dealt a major blow on Monday when his
wife admitted that the two houses in Pulomas belonged to the
couple and that the family's house in Malang was a gift from
Sjahriel's staff.

"The house in Malang was built by my husband's staff,"
Erlinawati said in Banjarmasin.

These contradicting statements have fueled public outrage over
the whole affair.

Action Committee Caring for People's Anguish (Kappera)
chairman Syafriansyah Noor said that Sjachriel had lied to the
people.

"Herlinawati's statement underlines the fact that Sjachriel
deceived the public," said Syafriansyah.

Syafriansyah also questioned the gift of the house in Malang
from the governor's staff.

"This multibillion rupiah gift is crazy. It raises big
questions among the public," he said, adding that people were
questioning whether this was an instance of collusion.

Syafriansyah also condemned Sjachriel for only declaring his
wealth after the public pressure became too great to ignore.

His organization has demanded that Sjachriel resign for
deceiving the public.

According to Syafriansyah, this whole affair had motivated
Kappera to investigate the wealth of other outgoing governors,
who may have hidden assets from the public.

Meanwhile, there are reports that a team from the KPKPN will
arrive in Banjarmasin soon to investigate the matter.

The team will follow up on the findings of several non-
governmental organizations regarding the case.