President urged to suspend Riau Islands regent

Haidir Anwar Tanjung, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru

A Riau official called on President Megawati Soekarnoputri to suspend Riau Island (Kepri) Regent Huzrin Hood who has been accused of misappropriating Rp 87 billion in funds allocated for the regency, to seek political support for the proposed formation of Riau Island province.

Tabrani Rap, a member of the Regional Autonomy Advisory Council (DPOD) from the province, told The Jakarta Post here over the weekend that he had sent a letter to the President, requesting that Huzrin be temporarily suspended while the scandal is being investigated by the Attorney General's Office.

"It is the biggest scandal that has occurred in the autonomy era because according to the Supreme Audit Agency's recent examination, the funds were used to seek political support both in the province and in Jakarta for the formation of Riau Island Province," he said.

The incident caught the attention of the public when Huzrin failed to show up several times for a hearing with the regency legislature to discuss the Supreme Audit Agency's findings.

An alliance of local non-governmental organizations have pressured the prosecutor's office in the regency and the legislative council to investigate the scandal.

Tabrani said that the misappropriation of the funds was revealed after he requested the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) to audit the regency's financial records following frequent mass demonstrations supporting the proposed formation of the new province.

"The demonstrations were financed by the regent from the Rp 95-billion fund disbursed by the central government to finance development projects in the regency," he said.

Hundreds of local people went to Jakarta to attend the House of Representatives' plenary session to decide the fate of the proposed province.

The House received the proposal but the government turned it down since it has yet to gain approval both from the Riau provincial administration and the provincial legislative council as required by Law No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy.

The proposal has also met with opposition from Natuna Regency, which is supposed to be included in the proposed province. The regency considers that the Riau archipelago is not politically or economically prepared to become a new province.

A number of members of the Riau Legislative Council revealed they had been pressured by the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) to support the establishment of the new province. Huzrin is reportedly a close friend of BIN chief M. Hendropriyono.

Tabrani said he had met Huzrin to seek clarification about the scandal but the latter denied he had embezzled the regency's funds.

He said that according to Huzrin, there was no embezzlement, only an administrative problem.