Official's wife reports his puzzling disappearance

BOGOR (JP): The chief of financial affairs of the Bogor mayoralty has been reported missing for about two months, according to his spouse.

Achmad Zaelani, 50, was last seen by his colleagues when he attended a meeting with West Java provincial government officials on Nov. 17, his wife Djubaedah told reporters on Tuesday.

According to the 45-year-old woman, she still had no idea of the whereabouts of her husband, adding that on the last day he was seen by his family he told them that he was heading to attend a meeting at the nearby popular mountain resort area of Cisarua, Puncak.

"Bapak left the house at about 2 p.m. for the official meeting which he said would last until Nov. 19.

But since then, he has not returned home," Djubaedah said, hoping that her husband would resurface soon for his family's sake.

The mayoralty spokesman, Hari Harsono, could only shrug his shoulders when asked to comment on the whereabouts of Achmad.

He, however, gave a slight hint to the effect that Achmad might have gone off to manage his own business.

"Some people believe that he went missing in order to run his private business. We can't prevent him doing so," said Hari, refusing to go into further detail.

He added that Achmad also had another wife besides Djubaedah, but again refused to explain.

The spokesman said that the mayoralty office regretted Achmad's failure to inform the office of his absence.

Warning letters

He said the local inspectorate office had sent at least three warning letters, dated Dec. 11, 23 and 31 respectively, to his residence.

"We have never received any reply since Achmad is not available," said Hari.

Mayor Eddy Gunardi, he said, had appointed official Asep Saefulloh to take over Achmad's position temporarily starting from Nov. 27.

He also mentioned the possibility of punishing Achmad, citing Government Regulation No. 30/1980 covering discipline for civil servants.

"The regulation stipulates that any punishment would be applied in stages. In this case, Achmad's promotion would be put off for six months," he said.

Hari denied rumors to the effect that Achmad had been isolated in order to let Mayor Eddy, who is about to end his term of office, and his men manipulate the mayoralty's accounts before they are inspected by provincial and government officials.

"The city authority has just been inspected by teams of officials from both the West Java provincial inspectorate office and the Ministry of Home Affairs in connection with the completion of the mayor's term.

The team found that no financial irregularities had taken place during the period," the spokesman said. (24/ivy)