JP/Jerry Adiguna

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said on Friday fulfilled the summons of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to attend questioning as a witness in a corruption case allegedly involving lawmaker Dewie Yasin Limpo from the Hanura Party.

Sudirman, who arrived at the KPK office at 5 p.m., said that he would be questioned regarding the graft case of a personal assistant of Dewie, Rinelda Bandosa, who was caught red-handed accepting a large sum of alleged bribery money at a restaurant in Kelapa Gading, Jakarta, on Oct. 20.

Dewie is accused of accepting a bribe of S$177,700 in relation to the construction of a micro-hydro power plant in Deiya regency, Papua province.

'€œWhat I will explain is, just like what Pak Rida Mulyana explained, that the [micro-hydro power plant] project hadn'€™t been allocated in the 2016 state budget bill,'€ said Sudirman, referring to the ministry'€™s director general of new energy, renewables and energy conservation.

Rida was questioned on Nov. 6. After the questioning, Rida said he did not know about a talk on the Papua plant from which the bribery case allegedly started. Rida also said that his office did not allocate the project. '€œJust ask Bu Dewie. We don'€™t have such a project,'€ Rida.

Jamaluddin Jafar, a member of House of Representatives Commission VII overseeing energy issues, said that that the commission held a meeting with representatives of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry to discuss the micro-hydro power plant.

Jamaluddin said he had told the ministry about Paniai Lake'€™s electrical potential, which could supply power not only to Paniai, but also neighboring areas like Insan Jaya, Semiyai, Dogiyai and Nabire. However, Jamaluddin said he did not know there was an attempt to allocate funds in the 2016 state budget. (bbn)

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