Jaya Ancol not linked with scam: Ciputra
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)