Nusron Wahid Absent from DPR Meeting After Subordinates Caught in KPK Sting
Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning (ATR/BPN) Nusron Wahid was absent from a meeting of Commission II of the House of Representatives on Tuesday (15/9), after his subordinates were caught in a sting operation by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) the previous day over an alleged bribery case at the Bogor Regency Land Office.
At the meeting, which discussed the management of regional government assets and regionally owned enterprise (BUMD) assets, Nusron was represented by Deputy Minister of ATR/BPN, Ossy Dermawan.
Besides being attended by several governors, the meeting was also attended by Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian. Nusron’s absence was briefly noted by the Chair of Commission II of the DPR, Rifqinizami Karsayuda.
“To the esteemed Deputy Minister of ATR/BPN and the entire delegation, who today would usually appear alongside the minister,” said Rifqi as he opened the meeting.
After the meeting, Ossy did not respond when asked about the reason for Nusron’s absence. However, he affirmed that the ministry respects the ongoing legal process.
Ossy also asked all parties not to speculate, as there had been no official statement from the KPK. He requested that everyone wait.
“So in this position, I can answer from the side of the Ministry of ATR/BPN: there is no need for us to create speculation or other controversies. Let us wait together; law enforcement authorities will certainly announce officially what happened,” he said.
The KPK arrested several individuals with evidence amounting to hundreds of billions of rupiah in the operation. The covert operation is allegedly linked to the processing of a Building Use Rights (HGB) title for PT Summarecon Agung Tbk.
A total of 17 people were secured by the KPK enforcement team. Among those arrested were Nusron’s subordinates, namely the Director-General of Land and Spatial Control at the Ministry of ATR/BPN, Lapri.
Also arrested were the Head of Bogor Regency Land Office I, Sontang Coin Manurung, and the Head of the Tangerang City Land Office, Tardi. Also among them was the name of Nusron’s colleague in Golkar, Fahd El Fouz, alias Fahd A Rafiq.
“Regarding the details of the construction of this case, how the chronology of the arrest unfolded, we will update later because tonight there will still be an exposure session to determine the suspects,” said KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo.
CNNIndonesia.com contacted two mobile phone numbers usually held by Nusron to ask about the sting operation within his ministry, but there had been no response by the time this report was published.