Maluku official stands trial in refugee aid abuse case
Maluku official stands trial in refugee aid abuse case
M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon
The Ambon District Court opened on Friday the trial of a senior
Maluku social welfare official charged with misappropriating some
1,975 tons of rice worth Rp 4.1 billion (US$455,555) in refugee
aid.
The defendant, Husni Lessy, the head of organizational
guidance and social assistance, approved rice distributions to
organizations unentitled to the aid from January to September
2002, the court heard.
The rice, which should have been given to thousands of
refugees who had fled during the three years of sectarian
conflict that erupted in early 1999, were released by the Maluku
logistics agency (Dolog) via 170 delivery orders issued by Husni.
Every time Husni issued a delivery order, he pocketed at least
Rp 1 million to Rp 2 million in "commission" from each of the 170
authorized social welfare organizations and foundations,
prosecutor Fauzi Marasabessy told the court.
Fauzi said the illegal distributions cost the state up to Rp
4.1 billion in losses, in addition to the Rp 170 million in
under-the-table fees retained by the defendant.
Reading out an eight-page indictment, Fauzi said the defendant
had no authority to deliver rice aid from Dolog, unless he had
been appointed to the task specifically by the Maluku disaster
management task force.
Husni should have also obtained approval from the provincial
social welfare office head at the time, Isack Umarella, before
distributing the rice, unless his superior was away or the
situation was considered an emergency, Fauzi said.
"Without procuring the office head's consent, the defendant
endorsed aid requests by issuing dispositions and signing
delivery orders to channel the rice," he said.
He added Husni had not verified the eligibility of the 170
organizations and foundations for the rice aid, and it turned out
that the organizations in question had embezzled the food aid and
did not distribute them to refugees.
However, several organizations reportedly issued delivery
orders by Husni denied receiving rice from the Maluku social
welfare office. These included the Lamatoka Foundation, the
Torihua Foundation, the Multi-Dimensional Peoples Non-
governmental Organization, the Guna Rakyat Foundation, the
Anugerah Sejahtera Foundation and the Sapalewa Ambon Families
Association.
Former welfare office head Isack, speaking to The Jakarta Post
on Friday, confirmed the misuse of the 2002 refugee rice aid.
Isack said he had not been notified by Husni about the
distribution of rice aid to the organizations and foundations.
"I just learned of it after receiving a report from others
that the rice had been distributed by a certain official at my
office without my consent," said Isack, who now heads the Maluku
people's empowerment agency.
He added that after he became aware that 1,970 tons of aid
rice had been distributed, he immediately instructed Dolog not to
release the remaining 3,000 tons from its warehouse.