Sutiyoso pledges to disclose wealth

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso on Friday joined public calls for a wider investigation into corruption among past and present government officials and said he would soon hand over details of his private wealth to the government.

However, the list detailing his fortune will remain sheltered from public scrutiny, he added.

The right to open the files belongs only to his superior in the bureaucracy, in this case the Minister of Home Affairs, Sutiyoso said.

"If there is a suggestion that I have been guilty of malfeasance, my superior will open the files on my wealth and begin to probe me," the governor told reporters after attending a ceremony to install the new West Jakarta mayor in office.

He said details of officials' wealth would be positive, only if used by the right people to prove allegations of corruption.

"Revealing details to the public might not give the right impression and could cause widespread anxiety," the former Jakarta Military commander said.

The list will detail his wealth before he was appointed governor to enable investigators to determine whether he has added to his net worth through illegal means during his term in office.

Calls to investigate corruption among officials who served under former president Soeharto, including President Habibie, have been growing since Soeharto appeared on television on Sept. 6 to deny that he amassed a fortune worth trillions of rupiah during his tenure in office.

Giving no details of when he planned to submit the details and who would be assigned to double check his statement, Sutiyoso said he would also ask senior officials in the city administration to follow his lead in an attempt to root corruption out of the bureaucracy.

"I will also make my officials observe this procedure. If I am given guardianship of the details of their wealth, I will protect them (the details) because they are secret," he said.

He said the public should have faith in the authorities' determination to take stern action against crooked officials.

Presidential Decree No. 52/1970 stipulates that government officials, including Armed Forces officers, ministers and governors, are obliged to fill a two-page form detailing their private wealth on an annual basis. The form must be submitted to their superiors by August of each year at the latest.

The list is supposed to be secret and can only be scrutinized by authorized officials. The first page is submitted to either the President or the official's superior. The second page is retained as a private document.

The decree remained unenforced during Soeharto's 32 year rule. (ivy)