ICW points out discrepancies in Mega's wealth

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.