Rp 10b vanishes from Donggala budget
Ruslan Sangadji, Donggala, Central Sulawesi
A top government official here has said that the Donggala Supervisory Board is investigating corruption allegations involving Rp 10 billion (US$1.1 million) that implicate former Donggala regent Nabi Bidja.
"I have received a report that the 2003 budget has been misused and that the board is investigating it," said Donggala Regent Adam Ardjad Lamarauna.
The 2003 budget in the regency was Rp 285 billion, and in his accountability speech in April this year, then regent Nabi Bidja said there was Rp 10 billion left over from the budget.
However, when the new administration under new Regent Adam Ardjad came to power recently, it could not find the leftover funds mentioned by his predecessor. "I don't know what the funds were used for," he said recently.
He even claimed that he immediately summoned every high- ranking regental official and agency head to inquire about the matter. However, they said that they had no knowledge about the funds.
Speaker of Donggala legislature Ridwan Yalidjama said on Saturday that he had received reports on the budget leakage, but only an amount of less than Rp 8 billion. "I cannot comment further because I have no data on it and there has yet to be an official report to the council," he said.
When asked whether the funds were used for campaigning in the 2003 regental elections for the reelection of Nabi Bidja, he said that he knew nothing about it. "I don't know. I swear by God, I don't know," he said.
He said that the regent had the authority to disburse money from the treasury directly, but the council had to be informed and there had to be an accountability report on the disbursement of budget funds. "That's how the mechanism works. If money is, for instance, borrowed to finance physical development, the council must know about it. But in this case, we received no report," he claimed.
To prove that there was an indication of Rp 10 billion budget misuse, the Donggala legislative council demanded Regent Adam Ardjad investigate the case thoroughly to avoid defamatory accusations being made.
When asked for confirmation, head of the Donggala Supervisory Board Kasmuddin was reluctant to make any further comment. He merely said that he had received reports on the leakage and was still studying them. "Just ask the regent," he said.
Nabi Bidja, who was interviewed at his residence in West Palu,said that he knew nothing about the issue. "It's not true. I wouldn't inflict a financial loss on my own region," he told The Jakarta Post on Friday.