High-ranking officials drive Harleys illegally

JAKARTA (JP): Former governor Wiyogo Atmodarminto and 10 high ranking city officials have been using Harley Davidson motorbikes belonging to the government for private use without proper procedures, a source said.

The motorbikes were formerly used for guarding presidents and prime ministers during the 1992 Non-Aligned Movement Summit in the capital. With the conference over, the right to use the motorbikes was in the hands of the City Land Transportation Agency (DLLAJ), according to the source.

However, the source added, Wiyogo, who was then the city governor, took one of the bikes for himself right after the end of the summit, while other officials followed suit within the next three years.

According to the procedures, employees of the city hall could only own some of the city administration's assets, including furniture and vehicles, through a bid, 10 years after the properties were acquired by the city administration.

To date, DLLAJ owns 26 motorbikes, including 14 Harley Davidsons.

A Harley Davidson costs hundreds of millions of rupiah and is popular among well-off motorbike aficionados in the country.

Meanwhile, Husein Djawas, the supply division head of city hall, said that the division had sent a letter to DLLAJ to ask the for the Harleys to be returned.

"The Harleys will be put in the hall's storage room up until the bid next year," he said.

Separately, Audi I.Z. Tambunan, chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle faction at the city council, commented that the case should be investigated according to the law.

"The bikes, which were bought using tax payers' money, should be returned to city hall," she remarked. (04)