T

he Jambi Prosecutors Office has declared 11 regional and municipal officials as suspects in corruption cases that are believed to have caused billions of rupiahs in losses to the state.

"The investigations of the cases have been conducted thoroughly by district prosecutors. It's time to increase the amount of investigations and name more suspects," head of the prosecutors office, Daniel Tombe Marrung, said Thursday.

Daniel acknowledged that his office had supervised the district prosecutors' investigation of the cases.

"Some of the cases are old cases. After we supervised the prosecutors, they were able to complete the investigations."

He said a corruption case at the Tanjungjabung Education Agency, which occurred two years ago, was among the as yet unresolved cases.

The district prosecutors began investigating the case in the middle of last year and named three suspects, who were detained several weeks ago.

The suspects were: former head of the education agency and current head of the regency's tourism and culture agency Andi Tandra, administrative division head of the education agency, Abdul Wahab, and planning division head of the education agency Ahmad Cholidi.

The prosecutors also investigated a long unresolved graft case in the regency secretariat, which is believed to be responsible for Rp 1 billion (US$100,000) in losses recorded in 2006. Former secretary of the regency, Sarifudin Fadhil, was named as a suspect last month.

Meanwhile, prosecutors in Jambi district are investigating corruption at the Jambi Manpower, Population and Civil Registration Agency, which caused Rp 111 million in losses to the state. Three officials from the agency were declared suspects earlier this week.

In Kerinci regency, prosecutors are investigating the embezzlement Rp 4 billion from assistance funds from a mosque. Prosecutors have recently declared the regency's official a suspect in the case.

Treasurer of the Merangin regency, Ayajuddin, was recently detained for his alleged involvement in a Rp 3.7 billion graft case.

Outside of government affairs, prosecutors are investigating the alleged embezzlement of Rp 7 billion in funds intended for the construction of the Tanjung Jabung gas power plant.

Prosecutors recently detained the president director of the power plant project, Bambang Sutejo, as well as M. Iryani, president director of a company belonging to West Tanjungjabung regency.

Meanwhile, Kayuagung district prosecutors detained head of tap water division of the Ogan Komering Ilir Public Works Agency, on Thursday, for his alleged corruption.

Prosecutor A. Tantowi Jauhari said the suspect was believed to have been involved in marking up the cost of a tap water project worth Rp 200 million in Tugumulyo village, Ogan Komering Ilir regency, South Sumatra.