TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Minister grilled as witness in Sabang graft probe
Grilled: Administrative Reforms Minister Azwar Abubakar responds to questions from reporters following a five-hour questioning by Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators for his alleged role in the Sabang Port project corruption case at the KPK in Jakarta on Friday
Change Size
G
span class="inline inline-center">Grilled: Administrative Reforms Minister Azwar Abubakar responds to questions from reporters following a five-hour questioning by Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators for his alleged role in the Sabang Port project corruption case at the KPK in Jakarta on Friday. Antara/Yudhi Mahatma
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Friday questioned Azwar Abubakar, the administrative reforms minister, as a witness in a corruption case surrounding a ship loading dock development project in Sabang, Aceh.
Azwar served as the acting governor for Aceh when the alleged corruption occurred.
Azwar, who is also a politician from the National Mandate Party (PAN), was questioned by the KPK investigators for more than five hours.
Speaking after the session, Azwar said he was questioned in his capacity as interim Aceh Governor between January 2005 and December 2005.
'I gave explanation to the KPK about the development project of loading dock for ships in Sabang, Aceh,' Azwar said, declining to comment beyond that.
KPK spokesperson Johan Budi said that Azwar was summoned as a witness considered to have knowledge about the project. 'I don't know what the investigators were asking him,' Johan said.
Also on Friday, the anti-graft body summoned another witness, identified as Ananta Sofwan, a lecturer from the Bandung Institute of Technology civil engineering department.
The case revolves around an alleged budget markup of the construction of a loading dock built from 2006 to 2010 in Sabang's free trade area.
Last year, the KPK named two suspects in the case, Ramadhani Ismy, an official in charge of commitment letters for the Work Committee of the Free Trade Seaport Area Development (BPKS), and Heru Sulaksono, head of the North Sumatra and Aceh Branch for PT Nindya Karya, who is also the authority for the PT Nindya Sejati Joint Operation.
The KPK has also issued a travel ban for Heru and Ramadhani, as well as for two other individuals involved in the case: former head of BPKS Teuku Syaiful and Muhammad Taufik, a private company employee.
The KPK had also raided PT Nindya Karya's office in Jakarta in August last year for evidence related to the case. PT Ninda Karya is a state-owned company that acted as the contractor for the Sabang project.
Estimated state losses in the Sabang case were around Rp 249 billion (US$21.4 million). (gda)
