Ex-governor ordered fire trucks: Witness

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Fri, 06/20/2008 10:34 AM | National

Former Riau governor Saleh Djasit refused to issue a procurement tender for the region's fire engines, issuing instead a purchase order, the Corruption Court heard Thursday during Saleh's trial for graft.

Arsyad Rahim, former Riau regional secretary, testified that the defendant insisted on appointing PT Istana Sarana Raya (ISR) as the sole supplier of fire engines for several regional administrations in 2003.

"I asked him to hold a tender, because ISR is a Jakarta-based company and many local businesses had expressed their interest in the project," he told the court.

Arsyad said ISR director Hengky Samuel Daud also had pressured him in issuing an appointment letter for the company.

Saleh, a nonactive Golkar Party lawmaker, is on trial on charges of violating government regulations on procurement tenders and causing losses of Rp 4.7 billion (US$505,376) in the purchase of 20 fire engines.

He ordered the disbursement of Rp 15.2 billion from the regional budget to buy the fire engines, although based on the market price the purchase should have cost the province no more than Rp 10.7 billion.

Prosecutors from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said Saleh had conspired with Hengky in inflating the number of fire engines the province had planned to buy.

The province had initially planned to buy three fire engines in 2003, following requests from three regencies.

Hengky, who is currently at large, was allegedly involved in at least three similar cases, including one each in Makassar (South Sulawesi), Samarinda (East Kalimantan) and Medan (North Sumatra).

The nonactive mayor and deputy mayor of Medan are also on trial for embezzling Rp 3.7 billion in an illegal fire engine purchase.

The KPK has been deepening its investigation into the fire engine cases, tracing them back to former Home Minister Hari Sabarno, who issued a circular in 2003 appointing Hengky's company as the sole provider of fire engines for several regional administrations.

Last month, the KPK named Oentarto Sindung Mawardi, a former Home Ministry director general who drafted the circular and accepted Rp 50 million from Hengky, a suspect in the case. (dre)

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