Prosecutor urged to probe councillors' trips
JAKARTA (JP): Activists urged prosecutors on Thursday to investigate corruption alleged to have been committed by councillors in relation to foreign travel they are currently undertaking.
"There is a lot of preliminary evidence that could be used by prosecutors to question the councillors," Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta) chairman Azas Tigor Nainggolan told The Jakarta Post.
Tigor said that a letter from Anta Tour, a travel agency which coordinated the trip to Japan and China, indicated that the travel was only for pleasure and not a comparative study as claimed by the councillors.
He also said that two recent letters from Indonesian consulates in Madrid, Spain, and Los Angeles, the United States of America, also revealed that some councillors only visited tourist destinations.
"It could be considered to be corruption committed by the councillors. They have used the public's money for their personal pleasure," he remarked.
The 2001 City Budget allocated Rp 12 billion (US$1.3 billion) for councillors' domestic and foreign trips. Half of the fund has been used.
Tigor said that councillors who participated in the trips should resign.
"If they don't want to resign, their political parties should replace them," he said.
Similarly, chairman of the urban division of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH), Tubagus Karbyanto, said that the councillors should resign.
He also said that legal action should be taken against the councillors, even though the councillors seemed "untouchable" and the process could take time.
Anta Tour's letter stated that some 17 councillors of the council's commission A for legal and administrative affairs who departed Indonesia on Sunday, would visit tourist destinations in Tokyo and Beijing.
The letter stated that the councillors were using Singapore Airlines flights for their seven-day trip, which is likely to violate a government regulation.
The regulation states that a state official should use the national flag carrier for their overseas trips, except when no flights are made by the national airline to the intended destination.
Councillor Ugiek Soegihardjo of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle said that the councillors should have used Garuda Indonesia, as he had when he traveled to Berlin last year for a comparative study. He refused to make any further comment about the trip. (jun)