Red tape slows down graft probe
Red tape slows down graft probe
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
It appears that an investigation into alleged graft in the
production of bird flu vaccine last year will not start anytime
soon due to bureaucratic hurdles.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture is examining vaccine
stocks after discovering the massive graft case which could
affect the quality of the vaccines produced.
The ministry's Director of Animal Health Syamsul Bahri said
his office would run tests on the vaccines currently in stock and
circulation to determine whether they met the minimum
specifications.
"Our laboratory capacity is limited so we will gradually test
samples and decide which vaccines can continue to be used and
which will have to be withdrawn from circulation," Bahri was
quoted as saying by AFP.
The ministry's Inspector General Zainal Baharuddin had said
that the vaccines, produced by PT Vaksindo, PT Medion and
government-owned firms Pusvetma and Balitvet, had a low protection
level of between 11.8 percent and 28 percent.
He said he suspected that senior ministry officials, working
together with the four pharmaceutical companies, had inflated the
cost of vaccine production to increase their profits.
Zainal estimated that the scam could inflict total losses of
up to Rp 56.98 billion (US$5.7 million) on the taxpayer, adding
that he had submitted the case files last Friday to the Attorney
General's Office (AGO) along with those on eight other cases of
corruption, which are believed to have caused around Rp 733
billion in state losses.
However, it could be some time before a probe is launched into
the alleged graft cases, including the bird flu vaccine scam, due
to lengthy bureaucratic procedures.
AGO spokesman Masyhudi Ridwan told The Jakarta Post on Monday
the investigators could only begin working after receiving an
order from the Attorney General, to whom the reports had been
addressed.
"After the Attorney General studies the cases thoroughly, he
will hand over the files to the deputy attorney general for
special crimes, who will decide on who will conduct the
investigation," Mashyudi said.
The deputy attorney general would then ask a chief
investigator to form a team to handle the cases. The team would
have to study the cases and ensure there was enough prima facie
evidence before launching a probe.
"You see, it's not quite that simple to begin an
investigation. So far, we haven't started the probe into the
cases involving the agricultural ministry," Masyhudi said.
Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes Hendarman Supandji
said he just started to read the case files.
Apart from the alleged bird flu vaccine scam, the agricultural
ministry team also reported corruption in the payment of
compensation to poultry farmers who had culled their flocks to
prevent the virus from spreading.