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)