Sutiyoso relinquishes post of commissioner of PJA

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso has officially quit as the chief commissioner of scandal-plagued recreational park operator PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol (PJA), a city official said on Friday.

Spokesman for the city administration, Muhayat, told reporters Sutiyoso relinquished his ex-officio post in compliance with the Regional Autonomy Law No. 22/1999, which bans a governor and other provincial top executives from holding a post in province- owned companies.

"This is nothing to do with the scandal involving the company. The existence of the law required the company's shareholder meeting recently to recommend that the governor no longer hold the chief commissioner post," Muhayat said.

Sutiyoso had earlier quit as the chief commissioner of city- owned Bank DKI, but maintains the same post in 23 other companies owned or partly owned by the city administration.

"The governor has written a resignation letter to the companies, but it must wait until the companies hold their shareholder meetings," Muhayat said.

Earlier on Friday, Sutiyoso told reporters that he would resign as the PJA chief commissioner and his replacement would be elected later.

Formal investigation is now underway into irregularities in the disbursement of Rp 2.1 billion by the company to fund the overseas trips of 45 city officials and councillors to three different destinations in October last year.

PJA president director Rushadi was "honorarily dismissed" following the scandal.

Many have criticized old regulations that allowed the governor to hold the chief commissioner post in city owned-companies, saying that far from giving a boost to the firms' performance, the practice enabled corruption, collusion and nepotism to flourish.

Some city top executives are maintaining their posts as commissioners of city-owned companies, including Deputy Governor for Economy and Finance Fauzie Alvi Yasin, Deputy Governor for Development Affairs Budihardjo Soekmadi, City Secretary for Administrative Affairs Makmun Amin and City Secretary for Development Administration Ongky Sukasah. (04/07)