Sutiyoso grilled for 3 hours over Ancolgate

Sutiyoso grilled for 3 hours over Ancolgate

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta Prosecutor's Office questioned City Governor Sutiyoso
on Wednesday as a witness in a graft case related to a
controversial foreign trip involving city officials and
councillors.

The governor was questioned for about three hours regarding
the three suspects: councillors Tarmidi Suhardjo and Tarmidi Edy
Suwarno from Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and Ali
Imron Hussein from United Development Party.

City-owned PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol (PJA), spent Rp 2.7
billion (US$270,000) while the city budget disbursed Rp 1.6
billion (US$160,000) on an overseas trip to Australia, Japan and
Canada, which lasted for one week on Oct. 12, 2000.

The suspects allegedly accepted double allowances (US$5,000)
from PJA and Rp 55 million from the budget) although they did not
join the trip.

Sutiyoso, who was the president commissioner of PT PJA, told
reporters after the questioning, that he actually disagreed with
the trip because the country was still in economic crisis.

But the company disbursed the money, anyway.

As for the money from the city budget, he said that he could
not object because it had been allocated for the councillors.

A total of 16 councillors and several city officials joined
the so-called comparative study trip to the three countries as
PJA would develop a water city project in Ancol, North Jakarta.

"Through this investigation, we are looking for (new)
suspects," the prosecutor's office chief Muljohardjo said.

It seemed, however, that Sutiyoso would not be implicated in
the scandal.

Muljohardjo defended Sutiyoso, saying the governor could not
reject the disbursement of Rp 1.6 billion fund from the city
budget.

Muljohardjo also said PJA's president Rushadi disbursed the
money for the trip without Sutiyoso's approval.

Separately, city spokesman Muhayat admitted on Wednesday that
the city secretary Fauzi Bowo had been scheduled to be questioned
as a witness on Thursday, but was postponed.

Fauzi was believed to know that the trip was financed both by
PJA and the city budget.

Muhayat said he feared that the case could be used to insult
Fauzi, who is currently nominated by the Betawi Collective Body
(Bamus) as a candidate for the next gubernatorial election in
October.

Muhayat said that the council's secretary, Moerdiman, handed
over the trip's proposal to Fauzi, on behalf of the governor, on
Sept. 15, 2000. Fauzi approved it on Sept. 22, and the Rp 1.6
billion fund was disbursed on Sept. 29.

Meanwhile, PJA proposed the trip to the governor on Oct. 6 and
Sutiyoso, through his disposition letter on Oct. 10, asked them
to give second thoughts to the plan.

"But PJA had disbursed the money weeks before the fund from
the city budget," Muhayat claimed, adding that Sutiyoso has
dismissed Rushadi earlier last year.

Six low-rank employees who joined the trip were also
dismissed.