Lawyer says committees hotbeds of corruption

Lawyer says committees hotbeds of corruption

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The City Council's decision to establish several special
committees could encourage corruption and collusion, activists
warned on Saturday.

Lawyer Tubagus Haryo Karbyanto described the special committee
as an "evil conspiracy" that would benefit certain councillors,
officials and businessmen related to the cases investigated by
the council.

"It's an evil conspiracy. Corruption and collusion often occur
in such committees," said Tubagus, who heads the city affairs and
urban society division of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH).

Worst yet, he said, the police and the prosecutor's office
which then investigated the alleged corruption cases recommended
for investigation by the committee were also often involved in
collusion and took advantage from the cases.

The Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta) chairman, Azas Tigor
Nainggolan, concurred, saying that the special committees were
often used by certain councillors to extort money from the city
officials or businessmen involved.

"If the councillors found irregularities in certain cases, it
would be an opportunity for them to extort money from officials
or businessmen," he asserted.

Both activists were responding to the recent testimony by
councillor Ugiek Soegihardjo, a member of the council's committee
investigating irregularities in city-joint venture firm PT
Jakarta International Trade Fair (JITF).

Ugiek, of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the
largest faction in the council, admitted on Thursday that he
received a Rp 20 million (US$2,144) bribe from the company.

PT JITF president director, Edward Soerjadjaja, reported Ugiek
to the Jakarta Police on Friday for defamation.

Data from the council shows that 15 special committees have
been established to investigate various cases since 2000.

Each member of the special committee, comprising between 15
and 26 councillors, officially receives Rp 2.6 million.

Last year's city budget allocated Rp 3.4 billion for special
committees and the number slightly increased this year to Rp 4
billion.

Despite the sizable amount of money, only a few of the special
committees recommend further investigation on the corruption
cases, such as the PT JITF case and the land acquisition case at
the former brothel in Kramat Tunggak, North Jakarta. Most
committees prefer to reach an amicable settlement.

Another special committee has been investigating two land
exchange deals involving the city administration, private firm PT
Indovika Housing and state oil and gas company Pertamina in
November 2000.

Yet another special committee has been investigating the
development of a city-owned hospital in Cengkareng, West Jakarta,
and a building at Taman Ismail Marzuki arts center in Cikini,
Central Jakarta.