PPP scrutinizing 'corrupt' officials

PPP scrutinizing 'corrupt' officials

JAKARTA (JP): The City Council's United Development Party
(PPP) faction is currently collecting data and information to
prove allegations of corruption perpetrated by 15 city
administration officials, a faction member said yesterday.

Ali Imran Husein, one of the faction's deputy leaders, said
the 15 officials had allegedly taken advantage of their positions
for their own profit.

Ali refused to disclose the names and positions of the
officials. He only said that the officials were from four
different offices.

"The names, positions, types of misconduct and other details
will be disclosed to the public soon after we finish our
investigation," he said.

The faction, he said, was close to finishing its investigation
as it had already collected 70 percent of the total data and
facts it needed, including copies of land and house certificates
and pictures of houses and cars believed to have been acquired by
the officials through corruption or collusion practice.

The investigation was conducted independently by the faction
in a way that would not violate the alleged officials' rights, he
added.

"These officials are actually not aware that they were under
'investigation'. Please, bear in mind that we have never
trespassed on their offices or properties when we collected data
and facts," Ali said.

He guaranteed that the faction would be strictly fair and
objective in examining the collected facts and data.

"We certainly will not expose the name of any official who is
not completely, I repeat completely, proven of being involved in
corruption or other malfeasance," he said.

The investigation into the officials was conducted in response
to hundreds of reports supplied to the faction through telephone
calls and letters from the public, he said.

On June 22 the faction officially invited the public to supply
the faction members with information on possible corruption,
collusion, cronyism and nepotism practices allegedly conducted by
city officials, said Ali.

He said the information would be treated as confidential and
used as background in the faction's investigation.

"We have received so far hundreds of calls and 20 letters from
the public, mostly about their suspicions over particular
officials who might be involved in wrongdoing," he said.

Ali said the results of the investigation would not only be
revealed to the media but also sent to the police and the
Attorney General's Office.

He lambasted the city administration for not disclosing the
details of the 251 officials who were recently punished for
misconduct.

"The governor should have given the details, including the
names, positions, types of misconduct, the length of time over
which the malfeasance took place, and so on," he said.

Governor Sutiyoso announced on June 22 that he had fired 37
officials, demoted 27, cut the salaries of eight, issued official
notice of poor performance to 14, given less stern written
reprimands to 69 and warned 96 others for various offenses
ranging from disobeying office hours to collecting illegal
levies.

Sutiyoso refused to give more details but said that the
imposition of the sanctions on the 251 officials was recommended
by the administration's Commission on Reform Control and
Supervision, which was established June 12.

Ali said concealing the facts would not help other city
officials learn from their colleagues' faults.

"The disclosure of names and details of misconduct is like a
shock therapy for the rest of the officials so that they will
think twice before getting involved in malfeasance again," he
said. (cst)