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