ICW points out discrepancies in Mega's wealth

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Two government watchdogs maintain that the wealth report submitted by President Megawati Soekarnoputri is full of discrepancies, claiming that the report fails to list all of her and her husband Taufik Kiemas' assets.

Indonesian Corruption Watch coordinator Teten Masduki and Government Watch coordinator Farid R. Faqih questioned what they called a lack of clarification on whether assets belonging to the first couple's relatives really came from Megawati and Taufik.

"Without such clarification, people may suspect that the report has been manipulated and we will never know the real wealth of the family," Teten told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

The Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN) said on Tuesday that the report submitted by Megawati last year, when she was vice president, was complete.

In the report, the couple claimed Rp 59.8 billion worth of assets, but did not include the blue Volkswagen Beetle, police license plate number M 3 GA, that is often driven by Megawati or one of the family's eight gas stations.

Taufik informed the commission that the Beetle belongs to their daughter, Puan Maharani, while the gas station was given to Puan's four-year-old daughter, Diah Pingkan, the day after she was born.

Farid told the Post on Wednesday that Megawati and Taufik's signing over ownership of the Volkswagen Beetle to their daughter set a bad political example for the people, who recognize the luxury automobile as Megawati's.

Teten urged KPKPN to trace the source of the money used to purchase the vehicle, because if it was bought with Puan's own money then the "police license plate number should be P 4 AN".

He said it was necessary for the commission to assess the wealth of the President's children and in-laws, because corruption and bribery can be covered up as grants or assets in someone else's names.

Farid said he had information that Taufik had profitable businesses that were not reported to the commission.

"We base our suspicions on grants Taufik used to dispense. He once gave Rp 1 billion to finance a sports competition in South Sumatra, and he donated cars to the Jakarta Police. The source of such grants were not audited," he said.

Both Teten and Farid deplored the commission's failure to look deeper into the wealth reports.

"The commission's verification process was not truthful enough, nor was it transparent. The commission should also listen to or seek out information about the wealth of public servants from the community, who possibly knows better," Farid remarked.