Despite threats, KPK says it will question House budget committee

Despite threats by members of the House of Representatives’ budget committee to boycott deliberations of the 2012 budget, the antigraft body says it will go ahead with plans to question the committee leaders on Wednesday.

“We will again summon the budget committee [leaders] Tamsil Linrung and Olly Dondokambey for questioning on Wednesday as witnesses in the bribery case at the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry,” Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) spokesman Johan Budi said Tuesday.

“We were unable to question them last week.”

Last week, the committee threatened to boycott its budget deliberations and argued that its budgeting function was being targeted by the KPK, after the commission summoned its four leaders in relation to the high-profile bribery case implicating minister Muhaimin Iskandar.

Tamsil from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Olly from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Mirwan Amir from the Democratic Party and committee chairman Melchias Marcus Mekeng from the Golkar Party were questioned as witnesses in the case.

Last week, the four announced that they had never asked for kickbacks from a construction company that won a Rp 73 billion (US$8.2 million) project to build infrastructures in resettlement areas in Papua proposed by the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry.

The allegation was first made by an employee from PT Alam Jaya Papua, Dharnawati, who has also been named a suspect in the case.

Through her lawyer, Farhat Abbas, Dharnawati said the company was required to channel 10 percent of the project value in “commitment fees” to the House’s budget committee if it wanted to be offered the tender for the government project.