I'm not responsible for use of Bulog funds: Akbar
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Akbar Tandjung has refused to take responsibility for Rp 40 billion in State Logistics Agency (Bulog) funds he channeled to little-known Raudhlatul Jannah Islamic Foundation, saying the funds were solely the responsibility of the foundation.
"The Rp 40 billion in Bulog funds is no longer my responsibility but that of the foundation," Akbar said on the sidelines of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)'s Annual Session in Jakarta on Sunday.
He also maintained on Sunday that he was never in possession of Bulog funds or checks and that he merely witnessed the handing over of checks totaling Rp 40 billion to the foundation in 1999.
"The handing over of these checks was done in my office, and all I did was witness it," Akbar said.
He did not explain how Raudhlatul Jannah foundation was selected or why the checks were handed over in his office since the Office of the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare and Poverty Eradication was in charge of distributing relief to the people most affected by the economic crisis.
Former Bulog chairman Rahardi Ramelan, the prime suspect in a Rp 54.6 billion scandal, said earlier that Akbar took Rp 40 billion of the amount and former military commander Gen. (ret) Wiranto received Rp 10 billion.
According to Rahardi, Akbar asked for Rp 40 billion from Bulog, but was told that the agency did not have sufficient cash to hand over the Rp 40 billion all at once. Bulog and Akbar later agreed to hand over the amount in two stages.
The first payment was made in April 1999 totaling Rp 20 billion in the form of two checks with a nominal value of Rp 10 billion each. The second payment was made in September 1999, with Akbar allegedly asking Rahardi to issue four checks of Rp 2 billion each and three checks of Rp 4 billion each.
Rahardi did not explain why Akbar asked him to issue checks of different nominal value.
According to Akbar, the checks were handed over by Bulog's deputy chief of finance Ruskandar and received directly by Dadang Sukandar as chairman of the foundation.
"As the state/Cabinet secretary at the time, I approved the hand over of the funds to the foundation to purchase basic commodities. The project was part of the government's humanitarian aid. This, of course, was in line with the recommendation given by the Office of the Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare and Poverty Eradication," Akbar said.
Former coordinating minister for social welfare and poverty eradication Haryono Suyono denied recommending any foundation to Akbar to distribute basic commodities to people suffering most from the prolonged economic crisis that struck Indonesia in 1997.
On Saturday, Dadang acknowledged that he had received Rp 40 billion from former state/Cabinet secretary Akbar, who is also chairman of the Golkar Party, the second biggest faction in both the MPR and the DPR.
"It's true that I received checks worth Rp 40 billion directly from a Bulog official. The funds were used to purchase basic commodities which were distributed to people most affected by the economic crisis," Dadang told the media.
Dadang, however, said that the foundation was only involved in supervising the program while the technical implementation of the distribution had been entrusted to "experienced contractors".
He, nevertheless, failed to provide the names of these contractors.
Dadang said his foundation and contractors distributed over 1.6 million food packages in 96 districts and 1,641 subdistricts in East Java, Central Java, Jakarta, Yogyakarta and West Java. Each package contained, among other things, instant noodles, rice and sugar worth Rp 21,000, with a delivery cost of Rp 4,000 per package.