Uproar over gold-plated rings for former House members

Uproar over gold-plated rings for former House members

JAKARTA (JP): Several active and former legislators expressed
yesterday dismay over the disclosure that the souvenir rings they
received from the House of Representatives were only gold-plated.

The legislators received the token of the House's appreciation
earlier this month at the end of their 1992-1997 term. The
House's internal affairs bureau allocated a Rp 400,000 (US$114)
budget to present each of the 500 House members a 10 gram, 23-
carat gold ring.

One of the legislators reportedly had the ring assayed and was
told it was only a 8.9 gram gold-plated ring. Its approximate
value was less than Rp100,000, the legislator was told.

The report prompted other legislators to have their rings
assayed, Antara reported yesterday.

Former legislator of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)
Popo Soenadar Harun, for instance, was given a 10 gram ring of
only 14-carat. Another PDI legislator, Laksmiari Priyonggo,
received a 9.8 gram, 18-carat ring.

Legislator Budi Hardjono of the PDI faction called for a
thorough investigation into the possible fraud.

"If there's really a mistake, (the House) should take action,"
he said. "If the people's representatives can be had like this,
imagine what could happen to ordinary people."

A former 1992-1997 legislator, A.A. Oka Mahendra from Golkar,
agreed. "If they can lie to the people's representatives, they
can lie to the people," he said.

"What I am protesting is not that I didn't get a gold ring,
but the deceit," said Popo who returned his ring to the House's
internal affairs bureau.

Yusuf Syakir of the United Development Party (PPP) said he had
not yet taken his souvenir from the bureau, but regretted the
reported forgery. "Now I don't know whether to pick it up or
not," he said. "The House's secretary-general should investigate
the case."

House secretary-general Afif Ma'roef immediately dismissed
speculation of corruption in the procurement of the rings by the
House's internal affairs bureau.

He said the quality of the rings could have been eroded in the
process of shaping and carving the rings with the House logo.

"However, the recipients can lodge their complaints with me or
the jeweler shop if the difference is more than one gram," Afif
was quoted by Antara as saying.

He suggested the assayers could have intentionally given an
inaccurate assay for their own interests. "Not that I'm
suspecting the jewelry stores where the legislators had their
rings assayed," he said.

"I'm also a former (1992-1997) legislator and received a ring.
(You) can have it checked," he said.

He said that several other legislators had praised him because
the rings were better than those presented five years ago to the
1987-1992 House legislators.

"If anybody wants to complain, please do," he said, adding
that the jeweler chosen in the procurement was a big store based
in Surabaya, East Java.

"I chose that store because of the good quality of its
products. Rather than buying the rings in Thailand, I thought
it'd be better to buy them here," he said. (swe)