Questioned Over Motocross Corruption, Former NTB Secretary Grilled with Dozen Queries

Former West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Regional Secretary, Lalu Gita Ariadi, was grilled with over a dozen questions during an examination related to the alleged corruption of the Lombok Sumbawa Motocross Competition 2023. He was questioned by investigators from the Special Crimes Unit of the NTB High Prosecutor’s Office (Kejati NTB). “There were over a dozen questions. I was examined in connection with the organisation of the Lombok-Sumbawa Motocross Competition 2023,” Lalu Gita said when met in front of the Kejati NTB lobby on Thursday (2/7/2026). According to Lalu Gita, the questions posed by investigators concerned his knowledge of the Lombok Sumbawa Motocross Competition 2023 event. Lalu Gita was examined from the morning, took a break, and then resumed the examination until the afternoon. “It was about my knowledge of the LSMC (Lombok Sumbawa Motocross Competition). What its connection was to the MXGP. How it was funded, and then how the implementation process went,” Lalu Gita explained. The Lombok Sumbawa Motocross Competition 2023 event consumed a budget of Rp 24 billion. According to Lalu Gita, the event’s implementation actually began with a budget request for the Motocross Grand Prix (MXGP) to the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Kemenparekraf). “Yes, the initial proposal was indeed for the MXGP, but the Ministry of Tourism’s pure state budget (APBN) did not have funds available for that,” Lalu Gita revealed. The budget from Kemenparekraf only became available in the revised state budget. However, the implementation of the 2023 MXGP in Sumbawa and Lombok could not be paid for. “In the revised state budget, there was available funding, but the technical implementers there could not execute payment for an event that had already taken place, namely the MXGP in June (2023), while the revised state budget was around September or October. So, it couldn’t be backdated,” Lalu Gita stated. According to Lalu Gita, the change in budget utilisation was coordinated with Kemenparekraf. He was summoned to Jakarta and an agreement was reached to hold the Lombok Sumbawa Motocross Competition 2023. “At that time, I agreed because there was a series of events to enliven NTB’s anniversary, so there would be festivities. We were grateful there was a budget at that time, but I still asked the technical implementer, Mr Jamal (former Head of the NTB Tourism Office), to carry it out in accordance with applicable rules and regulations,” Lalu Gita explained. According to Lalu Gita, the budget change was one of the matters questioned by Kejati NTB investigators during his examination. Lalu Gita then explained the chronology of the budget change. “The history of it, that is what we explained,” he said. As is known, the Lombok Sumbawa Motocross Competition 2023 was held at the Tohpati Sayang-Sayang Circuit in Mataram. The event, organised by the NTB Tourism Office, consumed a budget of up to Rp 24 billion. However, much of the Rp 24 billion budget is suspected of not being used as intended. Based on audit results, overpayments to service providers and tax payment shortfalls amounting to Rp 2.6 billion were found. The audit findings detailed payments to partners of Rp 1.2 billion, a tax payment shortfall of Rp 404 million, a payment discrepancy by the Indonesian Motor Association (IMI) of Rp 601 million, and a tax shortfall from IMI NTB of Rp 356 million. An excess official travel budget of Rp 6.2 million was also discovered.