Ministry uncovers Rp2.6t graft

Ministry uncovers Rp2.6t graft

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Home Affairs disclosed on
Tuesday corruption cases which cost the government a whopping Rp
2.6 trillion (US$388 million).

The amount, which is more than a third of the figure related
to embezzled state funds unveiled by the government last week,
was calculated from cases of graft between October last year and
February this year, the ministry's Inspector General Andi Jalal
Bachtiar said.

Of the state funds embezzled, only Rp 959 billion has been
recovered, Jalal added.

Coordinating Minister for Development Supervision and
Administrative Reforms Hartarto Sastrosoenarto announced last
week that 3,025 corruption cases involving Rp 7.21 trillion in
state funds had been uncovered during the 1998/1999 fiscal year,
which ended on April 1.

Jalal said that corruption mostly occurred in the procurement
of goods and the tendering of projects.

In terms of graft in provinces, Jakarta topped the list with
Rp 115 billion, followed by East Java with Rp 95 billion and West
Java third with Rp 38 billion.

Antara quoted Jalal as saying that in connection with graft
found in provinces, the ministry's inspectorate general would
quiz 20 governors. He did not name the governors.

The inspectorate general will also question the ministry's
former secretary-general Feisal Tamin, who resigned late May in
order to concentrate on chairing the Civil Servants Corps
(Korpri).

Apart from the anticorruption drive, the ministry has
dismissed nine regents, including Col. Sri Roso Sudarmo of Bantul
in Yogyakarta. He was sentenced to nine months in jail for
attempted bribery to pave the way for his reelection.

Other regents were from Asahan and Langkat in North Sumatra
and Tegal in Central Java.

Jalal said the ministry had imposed punitive measures on 144
employees, nine of them were fired, 16 suspended and others
demoted or reprimanded.

Another 333 face investigation.

Surprise

In response to the ministry's findings, the Jakarta
administration's secretary Fauzie Bowo said he did not deny that
corruption occurred in the provincial administration, but the
amount surprised him.

"We doubted corruption here had reached such an alarming level
as that announced by the ministry," Fauzie said.

Fauzie questioned the criteria set by the ministry to gauge
the level of corruption in provinces.

Several city officials are now under investigation by the
prosecutor's office for alleged corruption.

Among the biggest cases are a Rp 12 billion land scam at city-
owned construction company PD Pembangunan Sarana Jaya, a Rp 2
billion corruption case at city-owned Bank DKI and Rp 2.6 billion
land scam reportedly involving former West Jakarta mayor
Sutardjianto.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Communications announced on Tuesday
that it had canceled 12 infrastructure projects under the
ministry on the grounds that they were tainted with corruption,
collusion and nepotism. Some of the projects were linked to
former president Soeharto's family and friends.

Minister of Communications Giri Suseno Hadihardjono said the
projects, which were to be jointly developed by private companies
and state companies under his office, would have resulted in
substantial losses to the government had they gone ahead.

"We decided to cancel those projects because private partners
in the canceled projects were appointed directly by the
government without competitive tender," he said in a media
conference.

Most of the projects, Giri said, had not entered the
construction phase, even though some of the contracts had been
signed in 1995.

"However, some of the projects will be continued in the future
if they are considered beneficial to the public. But we have to
find new suitable partners through open tender," he said.

PT Citra Lamtoro Gung Persada, owned by Soeharto's eldest
daughter Siti Hardijanti Indra Rukmana, lost its contract with
state railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (PT KAI) to develop
and operate a Rp 450 billion railway in West Java's capital of
Bandung.

PT Humpuss Terminal Petikemas, owned by Soeharto's youngest
son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra lost its contract with KAI to
develop a container terminal in Gedebage Baru, West Java.

PT Tri Daya Esta, owned by Tommy's brother Bambang Trihatmodjo
lost its contracts to develop Rp 478.9 billion railway linking
Merak-Urak-Tuban-Babat and freight car railway for state cement
producer PT Semen Gresik.

The ministry also canceled PT KAI's contract with the Ciputra
Group for the development of container terminals in Gedebage
Padalarang and Cikupa, Tangerang.

However, most of journalists attending the news conference
were not satisfied with the ministry's findings, saying that it
was merely "for the sake of courtesy".

Giri, they said, had failed to reveal massive corruption
allegedly practiced by his predecessor Haryanto Dhanutirto.

Giri, however, defended his team, saying it could not find any
evidence in relation to Haryanto.

Separately the Ministry of Education and Culture announced its
inspectorate general had recommended the Minister to ask for the
accountability of the head of the Lampung provincial office for
unclear use of funds of Rp 52.6 million, Antara reported.

The Ministry had also proved abuse of Rp 3.2 billion in the
project of school buildings in West Java, and the head of the
provincial office would be replaced. The ministry officials
avoided elaborating on the question of the much reported alleged
corruption in World Bank funds for school books.(gis/ind/amd)