Prosecutors seize three state-leased helicopters

Prosecutors seize three state-leased helicopters

JAKARTA (JP): The Attorney General's Office confiscated on
Wednesday three helicopters belonging to the Ministry of
Agriculture and Forestry as evidence in a Rp 23.3 billion
(US$2.65 million) fraud case involving the misuse of
reforestation funds and government property.

The helicopters were parked at the hangar of aircraft rental
company PT Gatari Air Service in the Halim Perdanakusuma Airport
complex in East Jakarta.

"The choppers will be moved to the Pilot Training Center
(BPLP) airbase in Curug, Tangerang," spokesman for the Attorney
General's Office Yushar Yahya said.

Yushar said the prosecutors had also planned to move the other
five choppers to Curug. The five are currently parked at the
Atang Sanjaya Air Force Base in Bogor, some 60 kilometers south
of here.

However, only one of the three choppers could be flown to
Curug, while the other two would be transported by trailers
because of their poor condition.

All of the eight choppers, of BO-105 type, were built by then
state-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Nurtanio in the early 1980s.
PT Nurtanio was later renamed PT Indonesia Pesawat Terbang
Nusantara (IPTN).

"We are still assessing all documents connected to the
helicopters, including their certificates. We have yet to assess
their physical condition before moving them out," Yushar told
journalists at the Gatari's hangar.

The case is one of a number of corruption cases reported by
the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, formerly called the
ministry of forestry and plantations, as part of its efforts to
recover massive amounts of misused reforestation funds, and to
eradicate corruption in the ministry.

The Attorney General's Office began investigating the case
last May and named two suspects: Sudjono Suryo, the former
secretary-general of the ministry of forestry and plantations,
and the president director of PT Gatari, Kabul Riswanto.

PT Gatari was established in 1983 as PT Gatari Hutama Air
Service, and was owned by former president Soeharto' youngest son
Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra. The company was granted a five-year
contract in 1992 to maintain the ministry's eight helicopters and
a small aircraft.

The ministry claims it was charged Rp 7.2 billion by Gatari
for using its own helicopters during the period of the contract.

Gatari was also accused of marking up the expenses for repairs
and spare parts, costing the ministry Rp 2.8 billion. The
ministry paid these expenses with funds which had been earmarked
for reforestation.

However, Gatari's legal consultant Hakim Simamora claimed that
the company had never received nor asked for money from the
ministry during the contract period which ended in 1997 after a
two-year extension.

"The ministry had failed to comply with the agreements
stipulated in the contract, including to provide 20 percent of
spare parts and service of the helicopters's expenses and the
obligation to pay for 1,000 hours of rental costs per year," he
said.

Simamora said Gatari had never used the two grounded choppers
since they acquired them in 1992 as they have never been
converted from their military-oriented design into civilian-
oriented ones.

Simamora said the company had refused to share half of its net
profit as stipulated in the contract, because the ministry had
caused losses to PT Gatari.

"The ministry should have thanked Gatari for allowing them to
evade the responsibility of maintaining the helicopters, which
could cost you a fortune," he told journalists on the sidelines
of the seizure.

He added that the maintenance cost the company up to Rp 2
billion per year, while the cost for renting the hangar was Rp 75
million per month and the insurance fee was US$2,500 per month
for the three helicopters.

Simamora also said that the company had repeatedly contacted
the ministry to take back the helicopters after the contract had
ended, but to no avail.

Prosecutor Syahrial Harahap said the investigation was based
on the report made by PT Gatari to the ministry in 1995, after
the company had failed to provide its annual reports to the
ministry from 1990 to 1994.

"The ministry's inspectorate then found irregularities in the
reports," he said. (bby)