Jaya Ancol not linked with scam: Ciputra

JAKARTA (JP): Business tycoon Ciputra said on Monday he was positive a company he founded was in no way connected with an alleged scam involving city councillors.

Responding to the allegations, Ciputra said he believed the management of PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol, the developer of the Ancol recreation park, was "still working as professionally as when I left it in 1997".

He was meeting with Governor Sutiyoso at City Hall when he made the statement.

Meanwhile, the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta) demanded the police investigate the alleged scam, which centers on Rp 2.1 billion the company allegedly paid to fund trips taken by several councillors.

The foundation said in a statement that given the vast problems Jakarta is facing, it increasingly needs "a more efficient and effective use of funds".

The city budget allocates some Rp 13 billion for official trips by councillors.

A few councillors earlier raised suspicion of the scam when they falsified documents relating to official trips. Later, councillors and the management of the company said the firm had merely paid for travel costs in advance, and they would be repaid with funds from the city budget and Tanjung Priok sea port operator PT Pelindo II.

In the trips in question, the councillors reported they had traveled to South Africa, Japan and Australia to study reclamation projects similar to those being considered in Jakarta.

The case currently is being investigated by the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office and the Jakarta Inspectorate, as well as by a team chaired by the Council speaker. The investigation of the trips, which involved 40 people, including 14 councillors, is due to be completed in the next 30 days.

Ciputra said in the past funding official trips was acceptable as long as the requests for funding were clearly spelled out in writing.

"I don't know (the truth) about the money. We will just leave it to the annual report of the company's board of commissioners and the investigation by the city inspectorate," he said.

Ciputra is the founder and key figure behind the Jaya Group, a joint venture between the city administration that involves several private companies. The venture began in 1961 as a property firm.

Ciputra said PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol was found to be profitable and debt-free in an audit by the Development Finance Comptroller.

Ciputra said the company, part of the Jaya Group, had an average annual profit of at least Rp 20 billion, and paid between Rp 5 million and Rp 10 million to the city as entertainment tax.

The developer manages a 550-hectare recreation park and hotel in Ancol. About 80 percent of the company's shares is owned by the city, and Governor Sutiyoso serves as the chief commissioner. (07/dja)