Sutiyoso to fire Dolog Jaya chief for mismanagement

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso said on Friday that the head of the city's logistics agency (Dolog Jaya), Ahmad Zawawi, would soon be relieved of his post to help speed up the police's investigation into his alleged involvement in illegal rice transactions.

Sutiyoso said the decision to strip Zawawi from his post was taken after the governor consulted Minister of Industry and Trade/Chairman of the State Logistics Agency Rahardi Ramelan about the recent disruption in rice distribution in the capital.

Rice distribution in the city has been plunged into chaos over the last few days as the furor over the illegal transactions has prevented the rice intended for market operations from reaching the markets.

"The removal will last until the results of the police investigation are announced. The punishment could be more than that if (Zawawi) is proven to be involved in the illegal rice transactions," he said. In addition to his alleged involvement in the illegal rice transactions, Zawawi is also believed to be connected to the illegal rice exports to Kuching, Malaysia.

Asked whether other Dolog officials would also be relieved from their posts, Sutiyoso said that for the time being, sanctions would only be imposed on Dolog's head as he was the one who held the responsibility.

City police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman met Rahardi on Friday to inform him about the police investigation's progress into the alleged violations of the rice transactions.

Noegroho explained to Rahardi that the police had questioned at least five Dolog Jaya officials in connection with the alleged violations.

"It was just a kind of coordination. We exchanged information about rice distribution," he told reporters at the city police headquarters.

City police detective chief Col. Gories Mere, who accompanied Noegroho at the meeting with Rahardi at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said Zawawi's status remained as a witness.

"Zawawi's future status will be decided tonight after we have evaluated and analyzed evidence," Gories said.

Zawawi was questioned by police on Wednesday for almost five hours following the arrest of 15 distributors at Zawawi's office in North Jakarta last week for allegedly possessing illegal rice delivery orders.

His questioning was also in connection with the discovery of 1,900 tons of rice at Sunda Kelapa port in North Jakarta believed to bound for Kuching in Sarawak, Malaysia.

City police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang told reporters after the questioning that Zawawi allegedly gave different allocations to distributors.

Aritonang said the distributors, who took a "shortcut" technique, often got bigger amounts of rice. "Zawawi frequently received the distributors after working hours as well."

Distributors not involved in the "shortcut" system were forced to line up for hours before being given their rice allocations, he said.

Of the nine other people arrested at the Sunda Kelapa port on Saturday, four have been named as suspects. The remaining five were released after police found that they were only workers.

Besides Zawawi, the police have so far questioned four other Dolog Jaya officials; deputy head Saean Ahmad and senior staff members Edi H., Mulia S. and Edi S. from the distribution unit. (jun/ind)