Kupang Mayor reported for alleged corruption

Yemris Fointuna and Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Kupang/Samarinda

A non-governmental organization has reported Kupang Mayor Samuel Kristian Lerik to the local prosecutor's office for allegedly misappropriating Rp 1.4 billion (US$148,936) of the municipal budget.

The corruption charge was leveled at the mayor following a recent finding that there was an inconsistency in the accountability speech given by the mayor, said Sarah Lery Mbuik, the chairwoman of the Association of Initiative Development and People's Advocacy (PIAR).

The mayor said in the report that the municipal government had spent a contingency fund amounting to Rp 13.4 billion last year. The fund, obtained from the central government, was spent to finance routine expenditure such as the salaries of civil servants.

But, when PIAR checked with the Budget Directorate at the Ministry of Finance in Jakarta, it was discovered that the ministry had dispersed a contingency fund amounting to Rp 14.9 billion to the municipal government, much more than the mayor claimed in the accountability report.

"There is a difference of Rp 1.5 billion. Where did the money go?" asked Mbuik on Tuesday.

Rudi Prayitno, the deputy chief of East Nusa Tenggara Prosecutor's Office, said that his office had received the NGO's report and pledged to follow it up.

Earlier, the mayor has denied any wrongdoing and even threatened to report the NGO to the police for defamation.

Meanwhile, in the neighboring province of West Nusa Tenggara, a local prosecutor's office here named suspect a senior local politician on Tuesday in a Rp 24.2 billion (US$2.6 million) graft case.

Maryadi, a senior prosecutor, accused Sunardi Ayub, the head of West Nusa Tenggara Legislative Council, of having taken Rp 850 million out of a total Rp 24.2 billion in funds, which had already been declared evidence in another corruption case.

With Ayub's consent, the Rp 850 million was then distributed to all provincial councillors, said Maryadi, as reported by Antara news agency. The West Nusa Tenggara Prosecutor's Office has already named 11 councillors suspects and investigation into other councillors is underway.

Separately in the East Kalimantan capital of Samarinda, prosecutors here questioned on Tuesday Kasyful Anwar As'ad, a former councillor in the province in connection with the misappropriation of Rp 51 billion of the council's budget last year. Kasyful, the former deputy speaker of East Kalimantan provincial council, was questioned as a witness in the case.