UI to clarify and follow up on BPK’s report in two months
Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 01/26/2012 7:00 PM
The University of Indonesia says it will follow up within 60 days on a report about two financial irregularities, which hint at possible corruption in one of the country’s oldest and largest universities.
“The University of Indonesia (UI) says it will offer clarification, and follow up, on a Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) report about two irregularities in its budget management within 60 days,” the university said in a press statement issued on Thursday.
BPK deputy chairman Rizal Djalil had earlier said the irregularities the BPK found were enough to alert law enforcers about possible corruption at the university.
The first irregularity, according to Rizal, was the absence of coordination between UI rector Gumilar Rusliwa Soemantri and the Finance Ministry over the university’s agreement in 2009 with local company PT Nurtirta Nusa Lestari (NNL) to develop 23,500 hectares of land in Cikini, Central Jakarta, for commercial purposes.
Based on the contract, UI will receive Rp 15 billion (US$1.68 million) as a down payment and Rp 607 million annually between 2012 and 2039.
“The rector did not consult with or inform the Finance Ministry, which is responsible for managing the state’s assets, about the change of the land’s use, which we consider as a violation of several government regulations on state-asset management,” he said, adding that the BPK had estimated that the undervaluation of the land in the agreement could translate to possible state losses of Rp 41 billion.
The second violation was the university’s failure to absorb within the prescribed time period a portion of a loan provided by Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to develop a training hospital on its campus, which led to the state paying JBIC a 38.5 million yen ($501,500) penalty, Rizal added.
The university said the BPK had asked Gumilar to renegotiate with NNL on a 30-year build and transfer agreement by taking into account the taxable value of the property and its annual increases, as well as the present value of compensation the university received.
