KPK searches budget committee offices for corruption evidence

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators on Friday searched the offices of several leaders of the House of Representatives’ budget committee and that of lawmaker Wa Ode Nurhayati in a bid to find evidence of graft.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said that the search was related to the case involving the Infrastructure Development Acceleration Program (DPID), in which Nurhayati, a former committee member, has been implicated.

Nurhayati, a member of the National Mandate Party (PAN), has been detained after being named a suspect in the case.

KPK investigators confiscated two of Nurhayati’s personal computers. They also searched the electronic files of all computers in the budget committee’s rooms.

The investigators conducted the search of Nurhayati’s office on the ninth floor of Nusantara I Hall while PAN members were holding a weekly meeting nearby.

PAN faction secretary Teguh Juwarno said that Nurhayati was a “small fish” who has been victimized in a game controlled by more powerful players.

“Wa Ode is only a pawn. However, we support any effort to uphold the law and justice. We hope the KPK will investigate the case thoroughly and catch the big fish,” he said.

The KPK said that the search was to find documents that provided links to the other players involved the case.

Nurhayati, who has been dismissed from the committee, was declared a suspect over her alleged role in auctioning PPD projects to highest bidder in Bener Meriah, Aceh Besar and Pidie Jaya regencies. She was allegedly bribed by Aceh businessman Achmad Rafiq. Rafiq has also been named a suspect in the case.

Separately, budget committee chairman Melchias Markus Mekeng also confirmed that the search was to help build a case against Nurhayati.

He alleged that Nurhayati acted along and that no other members of the committee were involved in the scandal.

Melchias blamed the media for insinuating that he and other lawmakers also had roles in the scandal.

“The media should not make an accusation arbitrarily because the KPK will only work with facts and evidence,” he said.

Leaders of the budget committee have previously been questioned by KPK investigators over corruption allegations against the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, which had strongly been opposed to by the House.

The KPK has also been investigating a “mark-up” case related to a Rp 20.3 billion (US$2.25 million)renovation project that has not only implicated the budget committee but also the House’s secretariat and the household affairs committee.

The House’s ethics council has filed a report to the KPK over the mark-up allegations because all three institutions have refused to take responsibility over the management of the controversial project.

The budget committee purchased a modern sound system and 150 German-made chairs at a price of Rp 24 million each. The chairs are being sold on the local market with a price-tag of Rp 9.1 million each.

The House’s secretariat later decided to remove the German-made chairs and replace them with local products. The imported chairs are to be sold.

However, the House has pressed ahead with some of lavish projects, including a Rp 282.2 billion program for 560 lawmakers to organize meetings with their constituents throughout 2011 and 2012, the
procurement of new photocopiers machines and the purchase of a Toyota Camry sedan. Rp 6.4 billion has also been earmarked for a new sports facility within the lawmakers’ housing complex in Kalibata, South Jakarta.