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.