Former youth and sports minister Andi Alfian Mallarangeng has confronted former finance minister Agus Martowardojo and Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto on Monday during a graft trial session, saying they too should be held accountable for irregularities in the Hambalang sports complex construction project.

Agus and Djoko testified as witnesses in the trial of Andi, who stands accused of accepting kickbacks and committing malfeasance in the Rp 2.5 trillion (US$215 million) project, at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday.

The Public Works Ministry and the Finance Ministry were also in charge of issuing technical recommendations and approving a multiyear budget, respectively, for the Hambalang project as requested by Andi's office.

The court found a number of irregularities in the issuance of the recommendations and multi-year budget approval that were allegedly committed by officials at the two ministries.

'I just want to make it crystal clear that the issuance of a multi-year budget and technical recommendations were not signed by you as required by internal regulation at your ministry. So, if your underlings issue a letter that must be signed by you, but they did not notify you in the first place, can that be legally justified?' Andi asked Djoko.

The public works minister gave a diplomatic response: 'I have already explained [the irregularities] to the KPK [Corruption Eradication Commission] investigators and I have also summoned the relevant officials.'

Dissatisfied with the response, Andi then asked: 'Are you saying that it can be justified? Does such a situation breach internal regulations or not?'

'I think you can draw your own conclusion,' Djoko responded.

The Public Works Ministry issued technical recommendations for the Hambalang project without the signature of approval from Djoko.

Andi also blamed the Finance Ministry for approving the budget proposal for Hambalang, although the proposal was not signed by him as required by internal regulations at the Youth and Sports Ministry.

The former minister said he was implicated in the graft case because his former secretary, Wafid Muharram, signed the budget proposal without his knowledge, then sent it to the Finance Ministry immediately, implying that Agus and Djoko should also be held accountable for wrongdoings allegedly committed by their staff.

Tensions rose when Andi asked Agus the same question.

'Who should be blamed? The internal regulations or your underlings?' Andi said.

Agus responded by saying: 'First of all, the ballooning budget of the project, from an initial Rp 125 billion to Rp 2.5 trillion, was decided by your office after you consulted with the House of Representatives Commission X overseeing sports.'

'That's not answering my question, Mr. Minister,' Andi said, cutting off Agus.

'I will answer, but first you must listen. I have summoned officials and conducted three to five meetings to study alleged irregularities in the proposal. But the meetings were not enough, so I requested an internal investigation,' Agus said.

'The investigation found alleged irregularities, but to make a decision, I had to confirm the findings with the budget division. However, before I made a decision, my term ended at the ministry,' said Agus, who now serves as Bank Indonesia (BI) governor.

Popular

Growth without gain: Why Indonesians don't feel the economy

Police name Deli Serdang deputy speaker as defamation suspect

Outsourcing reform: Protection with two-tier responsibility