Solok mayor named suspect in graft scam

Solok mayor named suspect in graft scam

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb and Puji Santoso, The Jakarta Post,
Padang/Pekanbaru

West Sumatra prosecutors, who helped convict almost all members
of the provincial council in a collective graft scam, named Solok
Mayor Yumler Lahar as a suspect on Tuesday in a corruption case.

Yumler was charged with misusing around Rp 1.3 billion
(US$144,444) in funds for use as compensation for land acquired
for a truck terminal project in 2001.

West Sumatra High Prosecutor's Office head Muchtar Arifin said
that there was sufficient evidence to declare Yumler a suspect
for his alleged role in the case.

"We shall question him on Thursday," Muchtar said in Padang,
West Sumatra.

Last week, prosecutors also named PT Barretta Muda Pratama
director Hariadi as a key suspect in the same incident. The
company was the managing operator of the project.

At least 20 members of Solok municipal legislative council
have been investigated as witnesses in the case for approving the
project.

The Solok administration disbursed some Rp 1.3 billion from
the city's 2001 budget to acquire land to be used for the truck
terminal project.

The funds to finance the project, carried out by PT Barretta
Muda Pratama, were approved by the local council and Yumler's
administration.

The investigation followed a report on allegations of a markup
in the project from the Solok finance office and public works
office.

Last May, West Sumatra prosecutors helped jail 43 of the 55
provincial council members for embezzling Rp 6.4 billion of the
province's 2002 budget. The verdict was an unprecedented measure
in the country's recent history.

In a similar case last week, prosecutors in Riau province
charged all 45 members of Kampar regental council with graft.

Senior Riau prosecutor Dachamer Munthe said on Tuesday his
office was investigating the alleged role of officials and
councillors in Rokan Hilir regency in a corruption scandal
involving some Rp 17.9 billion from the 2000 to 2003 budgets.

Some Rp 8.730 billion of the funds were allocated for a
variety of allowances and severance pay for the local
councillors, while the remaining Rp 9.287 billion was allotted
for six government offices in the regency, he added.

Dachamer was speaking after receiving a group of 20 students
who visited his office on Tuesday to report the alleged
embezzlement of Rp 18 billion from the 2003-2004 budgets of Rokan
Hilir.

The students carried banners and posters during the protest,
demanding that the prosecutors be serious in handling corruption
cases in the regency.

"We come here not only to present data on the graft cases but
also solid and valid evidence from a variety of sources," protest
leader Eko Saputra said.

In a response to the protest, Dachamer said his office would
study the corruption report from the student protesters by
verifying their data in the field.

He said the Riau prosecutors were also investigating a
separate graft case worth Rp 8 billion in reforestation funds
allegedly involving eight officials of the regency's forestry
office, he added.

This case was reported last week by the Indonesian Forest
Study Institute (LPHI), which demanded that the prosecutors name
suspects in the alleged misuse of the reforestation funds if they
were serious in the investigation.

LPHI secretary-general Andreas Herry Kahuripan said senior
Rokan Hilir forestry officials should be held responsible for the
scandal.