Mayor denies project mark-ups, lying to KPKPN

Mayor denies project mark-ups, lying to KPKPN

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang, Banten

Tangerang Mayor M. Thamrin dismissed on Tuesday reports that he
was aware of mark-ups in the construction of the Tangerang
municipal administration office complex, and that he had
submitted a less then truthful asset declaration to the Public
Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN).

The mayor claimed that the reports were an attempt to remove
him from office.

"I don't need to respond to such accusations as I've been
aware of them for the last three months. I know who they are and
where they have held meetings to plot to unseat me," Thamrin, who
will end his five-year term in November this year, told the media
at his office.

He was referring to a statement by the Tangerang Muslim
Community Solidarity (SMIT) organization, which claims to have
found irregularities in the construction of the administration
office complex.

"The construction of the administration office complex has
been marked-up as the project cost Rp 60 billion (US$6.6
million), much higher than the initially budgeted Rp 27 billion,"
SMIT chairman Eddy Sulaeman said on Tuesday.

He claimed that the allegation was not slander and that it was
backed up with sufficient data.

Based on the construction material price standard issued by
the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure in 2000,
one square meter of a government building should cost Rp
1,406,000.

"But, a supplemental work sheet issued by the municipal zoning
agency in August 2002 states that each square meter of the
18,000-square-meter complex cost Rp 3.3 million," Sulaeman said.

But, Thamrin argued that the ministry's price standard of Rp
1,406,000 per square meter had been set in 2000.

"Just add up how much the price of construction materials has
increased following the hikes in fuel prices over the past three
years," the mayor said, while adding that the cost excluded
expenditure on elevators, air conditioners, the building's
foundations, electricity transformers, and illumination.

Thamrin, however, admitted that some of what SMIT said about
his private wealth was true.

"But, some of the properties had been sold or transferred to
my children before I submitted the reports to the KPKPN," he
said.

Besides the alleged mark-ups, SMIT also revealed that the
assets of Rp 3.2 billion reported by the mayor to the KPKPN were
far below their actual total value of Rp 45 billion.

"We have requested that the KPKPN reexamine Mayor Thamrin's
assets," Sulaeman said.

A copy of an audit report issued by the KPKPN on July 19,
2001, revealed that Mayor M. Thamrin's assets consisted of land
and buildings located in 15 locations in Sumedang, West Java, and
Tangerang, a 1990 Honda Accord sedan, a 1995 Peugeot sedan, a
1996 BMW sedan and a 1994 Mercedes Benz sedan, and jewelry and
antiques, with a total value of Rp 3.2 billion.

After conducting an investigation, Sulaeman said, SMIT had
found other assets that the mayor had not reported to the KPKPN.

They included two boarding houses on Jl. Ciumbuleuit Nos 129
and 141 in Bandung, West Java, worth Rp 6 billion and Rp 7
billion each; a three-story boarding house on Jl. Kolonel Syam
No. 71 in Jatinangor, Sumedang, worth Rp 5 billion; a house on
Jl. Utama Villa Melati Mas in Serpong, Tangerang, worth Rp 3
billion; a house on Jl. Taman Golf No. 14 in the Lippo Karawaci
housing estate worth Rp 2.5 billion; rented rooms on Jl Kenaiban
in Tangerang worth Rp 250 million; a house on Jl. Gatot Subroto
in Tangerang, worth Rp 1 billion; two chain stores in Tigaraksa
worth Rp 250 million; and a three-story shop on Jl. M. Toha in
Pasar Baru, Tangerang, worth Rp 6 billion.