Sutiyoso clarifies City Hall graft
Sutiyoso clarifies City Hall graft
JAKARTA (JP): After stating that corruption was commonplace in
the country, Governor Sutiyoso said on Thursday that the Ministry
of Home Affairs had made a mistake by revealing that corruption
was rampant in Jakarta.
"After rechecking, we found that not all of (the ministry's)
statement is true. What it (the ministry) categorized as
corruption is just debts," he told reporters at a media
conference on corruption at City Hall.
Sutiyoso said he had not been able to sleep since the reports
emerged.
"That's why we should clarify things to salvage the city's
image. I don't want people to think that the administration
divested people's money while they are facing difficulties even
just to buy food," he said.
On Wednesday, Sutiyoso responded casually to the ministry's
announcement that Jakarta ranked first among corrupt cities, with
nationwide losses of Rp 2.6 trillion, by claiming the news was
unsurprising.
The ministry's inspectorate general disclosed on Tuesday that
total losses from corruption in the city amounted to Rp 115
billion.
During a media conference on Wednesday, secretary of the
city's inspectorate office Syarifudin Mahfud (not acting head as
reported earlier) said that of 15 city agencies and offices
inspected by the ministry's inspectorate general since last year,
the biggest cases -- totaling some Rp 110 billion -- occurred at
the city planning agency.
He said some Rp 58 billion was in the form of state losses and
Rp 57 billion was debts owed to the government by 12 construction
companies in arrears with land usage levies.
Deputy Governor for Administrative Affairs Abdul Kahfi
announced on Thursday that after rechecking it was found that
graft of the magnitude stated by the ministry was not apparent in
the city.
"When the ministry inspected the administration in September
last year, there were agencies and offices which still had debts
owing. They have since paid their debts but it has not been
recorded by the ministry," he said.
City planning agency head Ahmadin Ahmad said on Thursday that
so far the agency had only been able to collect Rp 10 billion of
the companies' debts.
The 12 companies are: PT Tunggal Alam Raya with a debt of Rp
2.3 billion; PT Pelangi Hardawana (Rp 5.3 billion); PT Adhi Karya
(Rp 4.7 billion); PT Srikaya (Rp 6.1 billion); PT Jakarta Country
Club (Rp 15.3 billion); PT Cipta Cakra Murdaya (Rp 898 million);
Ronny N. (Rp 458 million); LPK Tarakanita (Rp 4.5 billion); PT
Bumi Perkasa Propertindo (Rp 779 million); PT Alvita Sunta (Rp
4.8 billion) PT Alvita Sunta (Rp 3 billion); and the Air Force
cooperative (Rp 3.7 billion).(ind)