Jasa Marga officials charged in toll road scam
Jasa Marga officials charged in toll road scam
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta
The Attorney General's Office officially named on Thursday four
officials of state-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga as
suspects in the embezzlement of Rp 74 billion (US$8.2 million)
intended to purchase land for the Taman Mini-Cikunir toll road.
The suspects include the deputy head of Jasa Marga's payment
committee, Daud Jatmiko, Attorney General's Office spokesman
Kemas Yahya Rahman said, declining to identify the other three
suspects.
"We have questioned 30 witnesses since we launched the
investigation into the case in 2003. We found sufficient evidence
that the four officials took money allocated for land clearance
for the toll road," said Kemas.
The construction of the 12-kilometer toll road is currently
underway and the road eventually will connect Taman Mini in East
Jakarta with Cikunir in Bekasi, West Java.
The project, which will cost hundreds of billions of rupiah,
began in 2003, Kemas said.
He said several other officials from the East Jakarta mayor's
office and from Jasa Marga could be charged with involvement in
the graft as the investigation continued.
"We are now questioning East Jakarta Mayor Koesnan A Halim as
a witness to clarify the project, because part of the
construction falls within his jurisdiction," Kemas said.
The spokesman said the investigation was almost finished and
that his office would soon bring the case to court.
Allegations of corruption involving officials from Jasa Marga
and its developer partners, as well as officials from local
administrations, have caught the public's attention over the last
several years.
Many have blamed the corruption for increases in toll road
fees.
The Indonesian Corruption Watch recently announced that at
least 21 toll road projects in Jakarta and West Java had
allegedly caused billions of rupiah in state losses.
The alleged graft cases include corruption in the construction
of the Jakarta-Tangerang toll road from 1996 to 1997, which is
thought to have cost the state at least Rp 12.5 billion in
losses.
Another suspected case is the Cawang-Bitung toll road project
in 1998, which is believed to have cost the state about Rp 57.9
billion in losses.
Another high-profile scandal involved Rp 811 billion of
falsified commercial papers to finance the development of the
Cawang-Tanjung Priok and Pondok Pinang-Jagorawi toll roads.
A number of businesspeople, including PT Hutama Karya
directors Tjokorda Raka Sukawati and Thamrin Tandjung, were
allegedly involved in that case.
Tjokorda and Thamrin were sentenced to one year and two years
in prison, respectively, over the case. Another businessman who
was investigated in connection with the case was Mustika Ratu
owner Mooryati Soedibyo's son-in-law Djoko Ramiadji, but the
Attorney General's Office eventually halted its investigation of
him.
Many anticorruption activists and analysts have expressed
doubt over the Attorney General's Office desire to resolve these
scandals and recover the stolen state money.
They cited the example of the alleged major corruptors of Bank
Indonesia liquidity assistance funds who have been able to avoid
justice.