No bribes found in city-owned firms: Kahfi
No bribes found in city-owned firms: Kahfi
JAKARTA (JP): Deputy Governor of Administrative Affairs Abdul
Kahfi insisted on Monday that the city's Reform Team, that he
chaired, had not had any reports of alleged bribery by city owned
firms to auditors of the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP).
"It's just PD Pasar Jaya which reported the matter," Kahfi
said, referring to the city run market operator company whose
boss admitted last week of having given "incentives" totaling Rp
60 million to BPKP auditors.
Kahfi, who is also head of the city's inspectorate, also
denied that auditors from his office had received similar illicit
"tips" when auditing the firms' financial records.
"But if there are reports (on such alleged misdeeds), please
let us know. So far, we've received no reports on the case," he
said after a meeting led by Governor Sutiyoso on public order
across the capital.
Pasar Jaya's president Syahrir Tanjung rocked the Jakarta
administration office when he announced that his company had
handed over tips to 10 BPKP auditors, who audited the firm's 1997
financial report.
He insisted that the payments occurred with Sutiyoso's
knowledge and approval.
On Monday, Syahrir urged reporters not to further run the
report of the alleged misdeeds of the BPKP auditors.
"(I) pity the BPKP men," he begged.
Many councilors believe that other city-owned firms also gave
money not only to the BPKP officials but also to auditors from
the city's inspectorate office and tax offices.
The city owns 60 firms.
Sutiyoso on Friday denied knowledge of the payments, adding
that such illegal practice could be a legacy of the rampant
corruption in the bureaucracy of the past.
The alleged under-the-table payment conducted by both BPKP
auditors and Pasar Jaya executives also sparked anger from legal
observers.
Indonesian Corruption Watch executive Bambang Widjoyanto and
criminal law expert Loebby Loqman have called on the central
government to investigate the alleged corruption to help boost
the country's anticorruption drive.
During the meeting with the city's high-ranking officials,
Governor Sutiyoso ordered all of the five mayors to take all
necessary action to manage public order in their respective
areas.
"So far, it seems that the actions (to make public order) have
not been synchronous," Kahfi said after the meeting.
Many councilors have criticized the mayors' alleged habits of
waiting for the governor's instruction before taking any action
to properly handle problems in their respective areas.
On many occasions, Sutiyoso said, he had given the mayors
authority to handle their own problems.
An ongoing dispute with traders at the crowded Taman Puring
flea market in South Jakarta and the problematic arrangement with
pedicab drivers are just a few examples of the lack of
coordination between the city administration and the mayoralties.
According to Kahfi, officials at the mayoralty level often ask
people to go to City Hall for solutions to their problems
although they were responsible for settling the disputes.
The dispute between Taman Puring traders and the South Jakarta
mayoralty office about the planned demolition of the flea market
has not yet been settled as the local authorities have admitted
to waiting for the city administration's final decision.
But Mayor Abdul Mufti announced that the plan to demolish
shops in the flea market had been temporarily postponed.
"The demolition will not be carried out until the traders are
made aware of the plan," he said in a break during the meeting at
City Hall. (jun)