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Govt to decide Hambalang project within two weeks
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All ready -- Accompanied by Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi (center) and Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono (left), President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo visits the site of a sports facility project in Hambalang, West Java, on March 18.
(Antara/Yudhi Mahatma)
P
ublic Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono has said a recommendation on the future of the long-halted Hambalang sports facility construction project will be submitted in the next two weeks.
Basuki said on Wednesday that the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry had established a technical audit team consisting of experts in the field of geology and building structures and planning, which would develop a recommendation on the handling of the construction project, following President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s visit to the site on May 18.
The minister further explained that the technical team would be chaired by the head of the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry’s research and development division and it would oversee four audit groups, which would handle matters related to building audits, drainage, environmental and geo-technical affairs and regulation and licensing.
"They will later develop a recommendation. It may take time because as the President has said, the recommendation will be very technical in nature and related to the country’s legal and financial concerns," Basuki said after a limited Cabinet meeting at the State Palace on Wednesday.
In his visit to the Hambalang site on May 18, President Jokowi urged the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry to conduct a thorough check of the conditions of the buildings in the Hambalang sports facilityin Bogor, West Java, to find a way to rescue the state assets.
Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi said the government did not want to repeat the mistakes that occurred during the construction of the Hambalang project in the past; therefore, the future of the project would be decided carefully.
"The President also ordered the Youth and Sports Ministry to prepare an alternative solution to anticipate if the project is not to continue," he said.
Harry Azhar Aziz of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) said, according to the agency's investigation, the country's losses in the Hambalang project were Rp 243 billion (US$18.26 million) in 2012 and Rp 462 billion in 2013.
"On the agency’s stance, we appreciate any decision taken to save the country from losses connected to the Hambalang project," Harry said.
Construction, which began in 2010, was halted in 2013 after being hit by a corruption scandal. Former youth and sports minister Andi Mallarangeng and former Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum are among those who have been found guilty in the case. (ebf)
