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View all search resultsFive arrested for corruption at disaster agency amid funding concerns
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A Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk firefighting helicopter operated by the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) sits on the tarmac enveloped in haze on Sept. 24 at Tjilik Riwut Airport in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan. Low visibility caused by persistent forest fires has hampered both commercial air travel and aerial firefighting operations across the province. (AFP/Reina)
T
he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested five suspects for alleged corruption in a procurement project at the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) on Wednesday, a scandal that raises concerns over the country's disaster response.
The case concerns the purchase of goods and services at the BNPB, some of which was paid for with the agency’s ready-to-use funds allocated strictly for emergency needs, such as aid distribution to disaster-hit areas.
The emergency funds make up most of the agency’s annual budget this year, totaling up to Rp 4.62 trillion (US$258 million), in contrast to the Rp 1.08 trillion of the regular funding.
Among the suspects are BNPB procurement officer Gabriel Purwaka Sigit and two expert staffers – one of whom is Bima Setyawan, who is also a younger brother of BNPB chief Suharyanto. The other two suspects are from the private sector. They were detained on Wednesday.
The arrests followed a series of raids earlier this week at several places across Greater Jakarta, where investigators seized about Rp 1.4 billion in cash, gold bars and gold certificates. KPK nabbed nine other individuals on Tuesday for questioning, including BNPB principal secretary Rustian, who was later released as a witness. The status of the remaining individuals remains unclear.
As of Wednesday night, the KPK however had yet to reveal which procurement it investigates.
The investigation comes as Indonesia struggles with a series of emergencies this year, including eruptions of Mount Anak Krakatau in September, persistent forest and peatland fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan and a deadly earthquake in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) in August.
