Official apologizes over fake ring row

JAKARTA (JP): House of Representatives Secretary-General Afif Ma'roef apologized to former legislators yesterday for the fake rings given to them as farewell gifts.

Afif admitted his staff had failed to thoroughly examine the quality of the rings presented to the 500 House legislators whose term ended on Sept. 30.

"We confess we were negligent in not checking the rings first, but it was simply because we ran out of time. We did not intend to disappoint the honorable legislators," Afif said after a House leadership meeting yesterday.

He said that in the leadership meeting House Speaker Harmoko had demanded that those guilty of embarrassing the legislative body be punished.

While considering taking legal action against those responsible, the House has asked recipients to return their rings for replacement no later than Oct. 30.

As of yesterday, 194 rings had been returned.

Legislators who concluded their five-year term last month were given farewell rings.

The rings were supposed to be of 22-carat gold and weigh 10 grams.

But several former House legislators disclosed earlier this month that they had been given gold-plated rings of varying weight.

Afif said a team he had set up to investigate the problem had found that the rings varied in weight and gold content, and that they were poorly made.

He said the House secretariat had put the farewell ring supply up for tender, which was won by private company PT Hutari Unggul Lestari.

The House secretariat agreed to pay the company Rp 368,064 (US$105) a ring, well below the government-set ceiling price of Rp 395,000 ($112) a ring.

The government has so far paid only 90 percent of the agreed price.

The company, however, allegedly subcontracted the deal to another company without informing Afif.

"The company has confessed, and promised to replace the rings in accordance with the specifications determined in the original contract," Afif said.

He refused to comment on whether the House was likely to sue the company.

Deputy House Speaker Abdul Gafur, who also attended the conference, said the House had yet to consider taking legal action against the firm.

"Let's maintain the principle of presumption of innocence," he said.

Gafur said the meeting, presided over by Harmoko, also agreed to improve cooperation with foreign parliaments, enhance teamwork among House bodies and improve communication with the press.

"We plan to organize regular press conferences prior to recesses, and to invite chief editors to a meeting," Gafur said.

The House has postponed a meeting with the Supreme Audit Agency from Oct. 30 until Nov. 5.

The agency is expected to reveal its report for the last semester at the meeting. (amd)