Uniforms fund target of alleged graft

Uniforms fund target of alleged graft

Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor

Clothes make the man, and presumably the woman too, but their
procurement, particularly in the case of civil service uniforms,
can also make a pretty penny -- for some at least.

The Bogor District Court is currently conducting the trial of the
municipality's National Unity Promotion Office chief, Suhud
Achjadi, who stands accused of siphoning off part of the money
earmarked for the procurement of uniforms for public order
auxiliaries last year.

Prosecutor Baza Telaumbanua told the opening session of the
trial last Monday, which was presided over by Judge Feri
Ferdiaman, that the defendant had embezzled more than Rp 310
million (US$34,831) from the funds allocated for security
purposes during the general elections in 2004.

"The defendant is guilty of corruption and inflicted losses
upon the state at a time indeterminate in January 2004," he said,
reading from the indictment.

In the run-up to the elections, the Bogor administration
ordered the distribution of 11,000 uniforms to public order
auxiliaries in 68 subdistricts.

North Bogor district has eight subdistricts, South and West
Bogor have 16 subdistricts each, Central Bogor and Tanah Sereal
have 11 each, while East Bogor has six subdistricts.

Each uniform consisted of a jacket and trousers, a cap, two
belts, a pair of boots, a baton and socks, with the entire
ensemble being worth Rp 414,750.

The money for the uniforms was taken from the overall budget
for election preparations, which stood at Rp 4.5 billion.

According to the prosecution, the defendant -- who at the time
was in charge of the public order auxiliaries -- took a cut for
himself out of the uniforms procurement allocation for each
subdistrict.

The prosecution has charged the defendant under the
Anticorruption Law, which carries a maximum sentence of life
imprisonment.

Separately in Jakarta, local councillors have questioned a big-
budget uniforms procurement project worth Rp 22 billion, with no
information being provided on how Rp 7.4 billion of this money
was spent.

The administration only revealed that it had purchased
material worth Rp 12.6 billion and given this to 30,000 male and
female civil servants to have their own uniforms made. It had
also paid an allowance of Rp 150,000 each to 13,500 female
officers to have three sets of uniforms made, which cost a total
of Rp 2 billion.

Many male officers who were given standard-issue uniforms
later returned them as they did not fit.