Tue, 02 May 2000

Tanri facing second corruption accusation

JAKARTA (JP): Already a suspect in the Bank Bali scandal, a private organization on Monday accused former state minister of investment and state enterprises development Tanri Abeng of corruption in the privatization of Tanjung Priok Container Terminal.

Institute of Indonesian Reform Advocacy chairman Eddy Sumarsono said the group had found after a three-month investigation that the privatization had caused the state at least Rp 1 trillion (US$125 million) in financial losses.

Eddy claimed that during the May 1999 privatization process, a Hong Kong company had $215 million. But only $190 million went to the state's coffers.

"The remaining $25 million, was left in the terminal's bank account, but its usage was unclear," he added.

One example, he claimed, was some Rp 60 billion for consultation fees.

However just the consultations were, it is still unclear what their purpose was, Eddy remarked.

He further charged that the privatization process violated at least five laws and regulations.

"According to the law, all privatization should be done under the authority of the minister of finance not the state minister of investment and state enterprises development," Eddy said while citing Law No.1/1995 and Government Regulation No.12/1998 as among those which were violated.

Eddy said there was further suspicion that the sale of Tanjung Priok terminal was underpriced, citing examples of several smaller container terminals which could be sold at a much higher prices.

He said the group's findings would be reported to the Attorney General and the Ministry of Finance office in the near future.

"We are going to gather more proof about Tanri's involvement to help the attorney general reveal the case," he added.

Separately, Tanri's lawyer Hotma Sitompoel challenged the group to present their findings in court, adding that his client would not respond to dubious allegations.

"Don't just shout it out in public, if they have proof then go to court and we will answer them through legal procedures," Hotma told The Jakarta Post. (dja)