Singgih to probe alleged misuse of Jamsostek's funds

Singgih to probe alleged misuse of Jamsostek's funds

JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Singgih said yesterday he was
considering summoning the Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief and
some House of Representatives legislators in connection with the
alleged misuse of state insurance firm PT Jamsostek's funds in
the deliberation of the manpower bill.

Singgih said in Bandung, West Java, that Indonesian laws allow
the Attorney General's office to question a top government
official or a House member for investigation purposes.

"However, we have to obtain the President's approval before
questioning the minister (Latief) and the House members," Singgih
was quoted by Antara as saying.

President Soeharto is attending the Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) leaders meeting in Vancouver, Canada. He is
scheduled to conduct a minor pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia,
before arriving home Saturday afternoon.

Singgih said that in 1994 J.B. Sumarlin, then minister of
finance, and Sudomo, then chairman of the Supreme Advisory
Council, testified before government prosecutors during an
investigation into the Rp 1.3 trillion (US$ 620 million) bank
fraud at the state-owned Bank Pembangunan Indonesia (Bapindo).

The two top officials were allegedly involved in the bank
hoax, but were later cleared. The scandal involved businessman
Eddy Tansil, who is still at large.

Latief has recently come under public scrutiny for asking for
money from Jamsostek president Abdillah Nusi to finance the
deliberation of the manpower bill which was widely regarded as
controversial.

Yudo Swasono, then acting secretary-general of the Manpower
Ministry, requested Rp 7.1 billion ($2.15 million) on Latief's
behalf, but the insurance company approved only Rp 3.1 billion.
The funds were taken from the company's budget allocated for the
protection of workers and membership expenditure.

Singgih said the Jakarta provincial prosecutor's office had,
since Friday, upon the request of the Deputy Attorney General for
Special Crimes Ismudjoko, been questioning several workers and
Jamsostek officials.

Follow-up

Abdillah, along with some Jamsostek top brass, met with the
Chief of the Development and Finance Control Agency Soedarjono
yesterday to submit necessary documents and data for
investigation purposes. Soedarjono declined to reveal the
meeting's content.

"They came here voluntarily to give first-hand information
about what actually happened," Soedarjono said.

The agency will follow up Jamsostek's reports, according to
Soedarjono.

"But we will not reveal the results of our auditing to the
public, (we'll give it to) PT Jamsostek, the Ministry of Manpower
and the House," he said.

Latief reported to Vice President Try Sutrisno yesterday about
the Jamsostek row.

Latief told reporters after the meeting with Try that
Jamsostek had spent Rp 2.8 billion of the Rp 3.1 billion
allocated by the company, to finance the deliberation of the
bill.

The money had been spent on accommodation, food, secretarial
and transportation expenses during the two-month deliberation at
Hotel Horison in Ancol, North Jakarta, and also in Kartika
Chandra Hotel in South Jakarta.

He did not explain what the remaining Rp 300 million was for,
but said that the Ministry of Manpower was now preparing
operational directives before the Manpower Law becomes effective
on Oct. 1 next year.

He denied that the money had also been used to pay the
legislators who were in the committee for the deliberation of the
bill.

"There was no bribery. Legislators' allowances for
participating in the bill deliberation were paid by the state
budget," Latief said.

The state budget pays every legislator involved in the
deliberation of bills Rp 750,000.

House Speaker Harmoko said the House would discuss the matter
in its weekly leadership meeting today. He declined to comment
further on the issue.

Three legislators -- Muhsin Bafadal of the United Development
Party (PPP), Budi Hardjono of the Indonesian Democratic Party
(PDI) and Moh. Iskandar Mandji of the Golkar faction -- admitted
Thursday that they received money, but declined to say how much.
(10/amd/imn)