Verdict on PT Jaya Ancol delayed until audit done

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration decided on Thursday to delay the announcement on the fate of PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol (PJA) director over the Ancol scam which allegedly involved an overseas trip until a public accountant completes auditing the firm.

"We expect to have the complete audit within two weeks," head of the City Economy Development Office Dameria Saragih said after a hearing with the City Council.

Dameria said the penalty on PJA's director, Rushadi, would be based on the auditing result, and discussed further through an extraordinary general meeting of share holders.

Following Governor Sutiyoso's announcement last Friday, a public accountant was required to appraise the financial record of the overseas trip. Sutiyoso boasted that he wouldn't hesitate to dismiss Rushadi if he has too.

However, no decision has been reached to punish the director of the Ancol leisure complex developer due to the lack of a public accountant's presence in the PT PJA's extraordinary shareholder meeting last week.

PT PJA is part of PT Pembangunan Jaya chain, of which more than 80 percent of its shares are owned by the city administration. The governor is chief commissioner of the latter company.

"The decision about the punishment is not the authority of Governor Sutiyoso as the company's chief commissioner alone," said Dameria.

The 1999 Law No. 22 on regional autonomy exempts governor's involvement as the decision maker in the city-owned company's, while the 1995 Law No. 1 on private company stipulates shareholder meetings as the highest authority in the company.

"Following the laws, the governor will step down from his current position (in the company) soon," said Dameria, adding that the city administration already had candidates for the position.

"The one to replace Governor Sutiyoso will probably be from the City Secretariat" Dameria added.

The overseas trips drew controversy due to allegations that PJA paid Rp 2.1 billion to fund so-called comparative studies for a group of 45 people comprising councillors and city officials between Oct. 9 and Oct. 15. The trips were to three different destinations -- Cape Town and Johannesburg, Sydney, and Tokyo. Governor Sutiyoso has confirmed that the fund was disbursed without his approval as the chief commissioner of the company.

On Wednesday, the city administration announced that sanctions would be imposed on nine of the 11 city officials investigated in connection with the controversial Ancol scam. Two high-ranking officials who had earlier strongly believed to be involved in the scandal were declared not guilty.

City Inspectorate officer Sudirman said the nine officials, mostly low-ranking staffers, were found guilty of misuse of funds and making the trips without the governor's knowledge.

In response to the decision, a city councilor Posman Siahaan of the Justice and Unity Party (PKP) said the governor should have cross-checked the result of the investigation into the nine city officials who had committed the violations.

He questioned Sutiyoso's decision and blamed him for the process. He speculated about three possibilities behind the decision.

"First, Sutiyoso just trusted the City Inspectorate with no reserve. Second, his staffers might try to dishonor him, and the third, he had no choice but to sacrifice low-ranking staffers," said Posman.

Posman added that Sutiyoso should not have established the Officials' Honorary Council from top city officials, citing speculation that the Council had a tendency to "protect" its own "friends" from such allegations.

Asked about the 14 city councillors being investigated by the Jakarta Prosecutors' Office, Posman said he will await the decision of the Office. (07/04)