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.