T

he Kediri Police are investigating an alleged graft case involving educational program funds at the Nganjuk regency administration worth Rp 4 billion (US$400,000) for the renovation of educational facilities in the regency.

The funds came from the Nganjuk regency 2007 budget's Special Allocation Funds (DAK) and from the School Operational Funds (BOS), which were disbursed by the central government and provincial administration.

Kediri Police detectives unit chief Comr. Andries Wewengkang said the alleged graft case was disclosed in mid August this year, based on information from a community group monitoring the implementation of the BOS program.

"We are currently examining 10 school principals in Nganjuk in relation to the graft case worth Rp 4 billion. Police will soon raise the status of some witnesses to suspects," Wewengkang told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Wewengkang added that the Rp 4 billion in DAK funds had been distributed to a number of schools, with amounts varying from Rp 100 million to Rp 1 billion, to renovate educational facilities, such as class rooms, and to build laboratories.

A large portion of the marked-up funds came from the services and goods procurement budget.

"The graft case is likely to involve officials from the local education office. Police are still building the case and we are seriously monitoring the educational program, especially since the BOS funds were prone to embezzlement," he added.

Nganjuk Regent Taufiqurrahman confirmed that a number of school principals were undergoing questioning in relation to educational funds misappropriation in 2007, and hoped the police could resolve the case immediately.

"I fully surrender the case to the law, and in the future, we will strictly supervise educational funds at the school level," he said on Thursday.

Bambang Indriyanto, secretary of the directorate general of elementary and secondary education, said the central government was currently streamlining the educational BOS program so it could be implemented efficiently, transparently and responsibly, as well as benefit students from less privileged families.

One of the government regulations stipulates that the disbursement of BOS funds should be transparent to the public, and funds usage should be based on an agreement between school authorities, the teachers council and the school committee.