Haryanto pleads to press to respect his rights
Haryanto pleads to press to respect his rights
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto, whose wealth has been the subject of media speculation these last two days, pleaded with reporters yesterday to respect his rights.
"Please show some respect for me," Haryanto told reporters who crowded around him for comments at his office last night.
The journalists were asking whether he had submitted details of his personal wealth when he met with Vice President Try Sutrisno on Tuesday.
The minister called on the media to be patient and wait until he meets with Try again next week.
When reporters pressed him further about whether he had any comments about the accusations of corruption leveled at him, he repeatedly said "My position remains the same".
He left his office in a minibus, instead of his official car, but only after he had the chance to tell reporters that his personal car is a Nissan Terrano, rather than the more expensive Cherokee Jeep as some people have suggested.
Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono confirmed on Friday that an investigation had been launched into allegations of financial irregularities at the Ministry of Transportation.
The investigation was started following a report by Inspector General for Development Kentot Harsono to President Soeharto. Moerdiono said the President had asked Try to follow it up.
Two local newspapers yesterday ran photos of what they said were some of the property, including land, fish ponds and bungalows, belonging to Haryanto, some of them in Lembang and Subang, West Java.
The ministry's spokesman, Bambang S. Ervan, yesterday rejected accusations that the minister, who was included in the cabinet in March 1993, has used his position to amass wealth.
Bambang told reporters that the land in Lembang was only 0.5 hectares in area, and that Haryanto bought it in 1974. A 500- square-meter house was built on the land in 1975, In 1985, Haryanto bought a two-hectare plot of land in Subang, West Java, and gradually bought more land until he had the current five- hectare plot.
He built 34 fish ponds on the land, each with a size of between 400 and 800 square meters, Bambang said.
Two of the fish ponds are used to breed two kinds of exotic, expensive fishes, known locally as koi and arwana. The rest of the ponds are used to breed goldfish, he explained.
"The fish ponds are often used for research by people from the BPPT," Bambang said, referring to the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology, which is chaired by State Minister for Research and Technology B.J. Habibie. (swe)