Graft case witnesses implicate Jakarta poll body chairman

Graft case witnesses implicate Jakarta poll body chairman

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Members of the Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPUD) are
pointing the finger at chairman Muhammad Taufik as the person
primarily responsible for budget irregularities that allegedly
caused the state some Rp 13 billion in losses in 2004.

Quoting witnesses who have been questioned over the past
several days, prosecutor Syaiful Taher said procurement tenders
for election materials were overseen by KPUD members, including
the commission's chairman, in violation of a presidential decree.

"All of the tenders for election materials were organized by
the KPUD chairman and commission members, violating Presidential
Decree No. 80/2003 on the procurement of government goods and
services," said Syaiful.

According to the decree, tenders for goods and services
financed with state budgets must be overseen by civil servants.
The members of the elections commission are not civil servants.

The Jakarta KPUD received Rp 168.6 billion (US$1.75 million)
from the city administration in 2004 and another Rp 5.5 billion
from the state budget.

Syaiful said prosecutors had so far questioned two people --
KPUD secretary Abdullah Achmad on Monday and the head of the
KPUD's general affairs unit, Basuki, on Tuesday. Basuki was also
responsible for tenders at the KPUD.

He said his team also planned to question KPUD treasurer
Neneng on Monday, but she did not appear due to illness.

Jakarta Prosecutor's Office head Husni Taher said his office
would summon several other witnesses in connection with the
alleged corruption at the elections commission.

The office is scheduled to question three witnesses -- former
KPUD secretary Ismeth S. Hasan, KPUD treasurer Susi Suskandariyah
and KPUD member Agung Widi -- on Thursday.

Taher said his office planned to summon KPUD member A. Riza
Patria and Neneng on Friday, while Muhammad Taufik would be
questioned as a suspect next Monday.

Asked if Taufik would be detained after his questioning,
Syaiful said it depended on the results of the interrogations of
the witnesses and the suspect.

Taufik was named a suspect in the alleged corruption case last
Wednesday.

The City Council's Commission A for legal and administrative
affairs said earlier it had found a number of irregularities in
the KPUD's 2004 budget.

Commission A, which investigated the alleged misuse of funds
by KPUD members during the 2004 elections, said these budgetary
irregularities caused the state some Rp 13 billion in losses.

It also alleged the KPUD failed to pay Rp 4.2 billion in
income taxes for its members.

Councillors also discovered questionable tenders and alleged a
markup in the purchase of 180,000 vests for Rp 12 billion (or Rp
66,000 each). That price was far higher than the market price of
Rp 25,000 per vest, the commission said.

The KPUD has also been accused of marking up the rent on three
houses it uses for offices in Kepulauan Seribu regency.

According to a report from the KPUD, the rent for the three
houses totaled Rp 170 million a year. However, it is believed the
commission only paid Rp 25 million a year to the owners of the
houses.