Police arrest Padang deputy mayor

Police arrest Padang deputy mayor

PADANG, West Sumatra: The police in Padang, West Sumatra, arrested Chairul Indra, who was recently elected Padang deputy mayor, for using a fake school certificate in contending the election.

Chairul's lawyer, Yadi Utokai, conceded that his client had been in detention for several days, and that he had asked police to release Chairul because of the absence of strong proof that his client had used a falsified senior high school certificate.

Chairul, who ran together with mayoral candidate Djasrial, won the election for mayor and deputy mayor on March 18, but the Padang municipal legislature had decided to postpone recognizing the pair's victory because of the fake certificate issue.

It was known prior to the election that Chairul had used a forgery of a required certificate in order to contend the election, after the police had investigated the case.

Several groups of students had protested the election since Chairul was still allowed to run for deputy mayor. -- JP

;; ANPAa..r.. Across-CJava-Torrential-rains Torrential rains destroys houses in C. Java JP/5/

Torrential rains destroys houses in C. Java

GROBOGAN, Central Java: Torrential rains that swept through Grobogan regency in Central Java over the weekend tore down 39 houses and damaged 660 others.

Grobogan Regent Agus Supriyanto said on Tuesday that his administration would provide Rp 300,000 per family in humanitarian aid in all storm-stricken areas.

The heavy rains that reached their peak on Sunday also injured several villagers when their houses collapsed.

Antara news agency reported that in Karanganyar, hundreds of trees fell over, damaging 15 houses, with at least six people hospitalized for injuries. -- Antara

;; ANPAa..r.. Across-SESulawesi-refugee-fund Embezzlement of refugee fund uncovered JP/5/

Embezzlement of refugee fund uncovered

KENDARI, Southeast Sulawesi: The Southeast Sulawesi provincial council has uncovered irregularities in the distribution of government funds for Ambonese, Poso and East Timorese refugees in Buton regency.

Hasan Mbou, a member of the council, said on Tuesday that his team, who had found the irregularities, would ask the police to follow up on the findings.

In the districts of Gu and Lakudo, he said, most refugees received the aid after local officers responsible for distributing the funds had embezzle from the total.

"Each family should receive between Rp 2 million and Rp 4 million depending on how many members it has, but in reality, families have been receiving between Rp 1 million and Rp 2 million," he said.

He added that village heads and district chiefs had claimed that the fund deduction was aimed at financing the construction of public facilities for the refugees.

Buton Regent Syafei Kahar said in Baubau, Southeast Sulawesi, that he had asked the local police to investigate the case. -- Antara