Medan attorney urged to probe corruption in truck sale

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

The recent sale of 76 used trucks belonging to state-owned PD Kebersihan in Medan, North Sumatra, at discounted prices has sparked sharp criticism and raised suspicion that corrupt practices were at hand.

O.K. Azhari, a member of Medan legislative council Commission C on state-owned companies, accused PD Kebersihan of lying to the public when the company -- which was in charge of keeping the city clean, including the transportation of garbage to dump sites -- announced that the used trucks were no longer feasible for operation.

"According to my investigations, most of these trucks are still feasible for operation," he told The Jakarta Post here on Thursday.

He said the trucks were assembled in 1976 and had been parked close to the city in Sembahe, Marindal and Kampung Lalang. He added that all their engines and bodies were still in a good condition.

"It is surprising that PD Kebersihan has auctioned the trucks," he said.

The strange thing, he added, was that the 76 trucks were all sold for a total of Rp 26 million through a closed auction last December.

"There must something wrong with the auction process because, according to normal market prices, the total for all the trucks combined should have been at least Rp 500 million," he said.

According to him, the prosecutor's office should investigate the auction of the trucks and take tight measures against those allegedly involved in the deal.

Azhari said the other thing that had raised suspicion among legislators was the fact that PD Kebersihan had chartered 10 trucks belonging to a local businessman, to strengthen its 85 trucks used to dump the city's garbage.

"The city administration has, on the one hand, said that it was running short of garbage trucks, but, on the other hand, it has sold its still operational trucks and chartered 10 new trucks at an unfeasibly high cost," he said.

The city administration was faced with a serious garbage problem last November when it lacked adequate trucks and nearby dump sites. "This is evidence that the city administration is not professional in handling garbage matters, while corruption is still prevalent in the local bureaucracy," said Azhari.

Amar Pane, president of PD Kebershihan, told the Post that the selling of the used trucks had been approved by the city's mayor and the auction was conducted in accordance with official procedures.

He said he had proposed selling the used trucks after receiving a recommendation from the local government's audit office (BPKP).

"BPKP proposed to us to phase out the 76 used trucks from our inventory and asset books, as they were considered to have reached the end of their useful life," he said, citing only 6 percent of the trucks were feasible for operation.

Ikhwaluddin Simatupang of Medan Legal Aid (LBH), called on the prosecutor's office to investigate the allegation of corruption in the auction.

"Something wrong has happened in the auction and the company's president and Medan Mayor Abdillah must be held responsible for the case," he said.