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)