Rp 10b vanishes from Donggala budget

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.