House undecided on Megawati's aid to the military
Kurniawan Hari The Jakarta Post Jakarta
The House of Representatives' Commission I on defense, security, state secretariat and foreign affairs said it was skeptical about State Secretary Bambang Kesowo's explanation about the source of controversial funds used to repair military barracks.
During a hearing with Bambang here on Monday, the commission looked skeptical of his explanation and decided to instead form a special team to investigate it themselves.
"An inter-faction team will be set up to carry out a further inquiry into the scandal, including assessing Bambang's explanation before the commission," Astrid S. Susanti, who presided over the hearing, said.
During the hearing, Bambang maintained his previous statement that the money was taken from the Presidential Aid Fund (Banpres), a discretionary fund available for the use of the president.
"The Rp 30 billion was taken from nowhere, but from the Presidential Aid Fund. I swear to God," Bambang said.
The legislators, however, fell short of extracting from Kesowo where exactly the Presidential Aid Funds had come from.
Bambang said that the funds were collected from various sources, including the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), clove trade regulations, cigarette excise tax and money left over from the construction of the Indonesian embassy in Singapore.
The use of the funds emerged when a legislator disclosed to the press several months ago that the State Secretariat had disbursed Rp 30 billion to the Indonesian Military to help rebuild dilapidated military barracks in several locations around the country, without the House's permission.
The funds' disbursement was also confirmed by an audit conducted by the State Audit Agency (BPK).
Bambang said the funds inherited by former president B.J. Habibie from his predecessor Soeharto was Rp 550.4 billion and US$12 million. Former president Abdurrahman Wahid inherited Rp 477.1 billion and US$13.6 million from Habibie.
The state secretary added that the government of Megawati Soekarnoputri had been left Rp 401.6 billion and US$10.6 million by Wahid.
According to Bambang, the amount of the presidential aid was known on Jan. 30, 2001 after president Megawati ordered him to total the funds last August.
It was known that the amount of the funds was about Rp 330 billion and US$10 million, he said.
However, a report by the State Audit Body (BPK) showed that the remaining funds were around Rp 540 billion, a figure which was quite different from the figure reported by Kesowo to the president.
Commenting on the discrepancy between his report and that of the BPK, Bambang recalled that Rp 100 billion had been handed over to the vice-presidential secretariat and the rest was borrowed by third parties.
"If all those funds were combined, the amount would reach about Rp 528 billion and US$10 million. So there is no discrepancy," he said.
He disclosed that there were 57 organizations making the use of the funds. They received Rp 1.5 million to Rp 7 million in monthly subsidies.
Bambang said that the Presidential Aid Funds were handed over to the Ministry of Finance for better management and supervision on May 18.