PON XVI project

PON XVI project and collusion

From Republika

As a citizen of South Sumatra I feel very sad, annoyed and confounded by the attitude of the provincial executive toward the PON XVI 2004 national sports festival project scam between the regional public works office and the regional legislature's Commission D, involving a Rp 350 million payoff. The conflicting parties (provincial governor Rosihan Arsyad, councillor M. Natsir Djakfar and head of the Provincial Development Control Board Nursanto Anwar) have adopted an ambivalent and permissive position, by attempting to dismiss the issue and shirk responsibility.

This case started with legislative pressure at a Commission D hearing with the head of the public works office, Hafizar Hanafi, and the PON XVI project manager on Sept. 3, 2001. The commission unveiled five mistakes made by the governor and the PON XVI project: 1. Unilateral project revision by issuing a gubernatorial decision to change the cost of the renovation of Bumi Sriwijaya Stadium from Rp 20 billion to Rp 28.5 billion. 2. The absence of regional regulation on which the project's masterplan is based. 3. The dislocation of regional budget funds for sports stadiums (GOR) A and B to private firms. 4. The absence of initial planning for PON XVI. 5. The lack of transparency, as indicated by a gubernatorial decision on the approval of direct appointments for the main stadium project, the master plan, the environmental impact analysis and reclamation (thus violating Presidential Decree No.18/2000).

In order to cover the irregularities and absorb the legislative censure, the provincial governor offered a compromise (i.e. collusion), by delegating the public works office head to negotiate a settlement with the legislative commission, in the hope of ensuring the "smooth" project implementation as originally scheduled (thus violating People's Consultative Assembly Decree No.XI/1998 and Law No.25/1999 on the elimination of collusion, corruption and nepotism and the achievement of good governance).

IVAN ISKANDAR

Palembang, South Sumatra