COURT TESTIMONY CONFIRMS CORRUPTION RIFE IN INDONESIAN PARLIAMENT

By Andi Abdussalam

     Jakarta, July 30 (ANTARA) - Testimony at a Corruption Court session on Monday that 52 legislators had received Rp100 billion in bribes from  Bank Indonesia (BI) for the revision of a BI bill  was big news by any standard.
     Yet, to many people the disclosure was not surprising at all because it only confirmed  the public's long-standing perception  that their parliament is one of the country's corrupt institutions.
     House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Agung Laksono said the names of the alleged recipients of BI funds, including legislators, had been known to the public for a long time so that they were not surprised to hear the disclosure in the ongoing Corruption Court sessions.
     "The names have been circulating for a long time. It will be better for us to leave it to the court," Agung said at the DPR building on Monday.
     Hamka Yandhu, who was a member of Commission IX of the House of the 1999-2004 period, told a Corruption Court hearing on Monday that Rp100 billion in Bank Indonesia funds were distributed to 52 other Commission-IX members at the time.
     He made the statement when he was questioned as a witness in the trial of former BI legal affairs deputy director Oey Hoe Tiong and former BI communication bureau head Rusli Simanjuntak in the illegal BI funds transfer case.
     Recipients of the 'bribes included two legislators who have now become ministers in  President Susilo Bambang Yudhohono's cabinet.
     Hamka Yandhu, a suspect in the BI fund flow case in 2003, disclosed in Monday's session the names of House members who received the BI funds in 2003.  When giving testimony as a witness for the second defendant, Oey Hoy Tion, a former BI official, Hamka said most of the House's Commission IX members representing various political parties had received the funds.
     The amount of money received by each of the commission members varied between Rp250 million and Rp500 million. The amounts given to each of the legislators was decided by Antony Zeidra Abidin, a legislator who had also been named a suspect in the case.
      according to Hamka, some of the money flowed to 13 members of the House's Commission IX from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP). Each of them, among others, Sutarto, Sukono and Max Moein, received Rp250 million.
      The money also flowed to a number of politicians from the United Development Party (PPP), among others, Daniel Tanjung, Endin Soefihara and Habil Marati. He said the amount of money reached Rp500 million.
      Members of the National Awakening Party (PKB) faction also received part of the funds. Some Rp1 billion was given to Amru Al Mutazim in four installments which were later distributed to Ali As'ad, Aris Siagian and Amin S.
      The same amount of money also flowed to members of the Armed Forces/Police faction in the House at that time, namely to Darsuf Yusuf, R. Sulistyadi, Suyitno and Uji Suheri.
      Hamka also said  Forestry Minister MS Kaban received Rp300 million while Minister for National Development Planning Paskah Suzetta got Rp1 billion when he was chairman of the House's Commission IX. He said he personally handed Rp1 billion in four installments to Suzetta and Rp300 million to Kaban.
      The case of BI funds flowing to members of the House of Representatives (DPR) came to the surface when the State Audit Board reported the case to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in November 2006.
      According to the BPK report, BI disbursed Rp96.25 billion to lawmakers and law enforcers in an effort to help overcome legal problems being faced by BI officials involved in the bad BI liquidity assistance (BLBI) debts case.
     Hamka said the money was provided in connection with the BLBI legal problem and deliberations on a BI bill. The BLBI was emergency liquidity credits extended to commercial banks during the financial crisis which begain in mid 1997 but later turned bad.
     Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would  respect the legal process and facts in regard to legislator Hamka Yandhu's allegation that two cabinet ministers were  among the recipients of illegal BI funds.
     Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng was referring to the statment made by  Hamka in the Corruption Court session that Minister Paskah Suzetta and Minister MS Kaban had received part of the BI funds when they both  were members of the House?s Commission IX of the 1999-2004 period.
     "As for the president, he leaves it to whatever the legal facts are. The people concerned can defend themselves based on the principle of presumption of innocence," Malarangeng told reporters.
     Minister Paskah Suzetta himself denied the allegation saying he was sure of his own innocence in connection with Hamka's testimony in court that he had received Rp1 billion of the BI funds.
     "I am sure I am innocent but everything will depend on the ruling of a court of law," Suzetta said adding he would submit to any legal process the court would decide if he was found guilty.
     Minister MS Kaban also refuted the accusation. He said he never received Rp300 million from Hamka, which the BI had provided for the revision of a BI bill. "I sm really mot aware about the funds. I have never been a member of the team tasked with revising the BI law," he said.
     Kaban said he had also been summoned by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to give testimony on the alleged illegal BI fund flow for the revision of the BI law.
     On the other alleged recipients, the House of Representatives will ask its Council of Ethics to take  a stand.
     "I ask the DPR Ethics Council to react soon (to Yandhu's statement) and I will also  meet with the council's chairman soon  to discuss it," Agung Laksono said.

(T.A014/A/HAJM/13:40/a/f001) 30-07-2008 13:46:28

SERIAL KILLER MURDERS TEN PEOPLE IN INDONESIA

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 28 (ANTARA) - Police on Monday lifted five more bodies from holes in the backyard of a serial killer`s house after recovering four others from the same area in Maijo hamlet, Jatiwates village, Jombang district, East Java last week.

Verry Idham Henryansyah alias Ryan (34) who sparked public horror last week after he was arrested for mutilating a friend, butchering four others and burying them in two holes in the backyard of his home, admitted on Sunday he had battered to death five more people who had previously been reported missing by their families.

The chief of the Jombang Police Resort, Adjunct Senior Commissioner M Khosim, said Sunday, Ryan had admitted that the five people reported missing by their families were among the victims of his killing sprees.

The five victims whose bodies were found on Monday were identified as Nanik Kristanti (28) and her daughter Silvia Ramadhani (3), residents of Kepuh Permai Housing complex, Peterogan, Jombang; Agustinus Fitri Setyawan (28), a resident of Jalan Dr Soetomo; M Zainul Abidin alias Zaki (27), a resident of Dapur Kejambon, Jombang; and M Aksoni (28), a resident of Slawe village, Tarik sub-district, Sidoarjo district, East Java.

"Ryan has admitted the five were among his victims. He confessed to the murders when he was shown pictures of the five people," Khosim said.

Until Sunday (July 27), Ryan still refused to reveal the place where he had buried the bodies of the five victims, nor was he prepared to explain the motive of the killings.

But a joint team of the Jakarta and East Java police on Monday successfully dug up and lifted five bodies from the holes where the five victims were suspected to have been buried in the backyard of Ryan`s father`s house in Jatiwates village, Tembelang sub-district, Jombang East Java.

"Based on Ryan`s confession to having murdered the five victims, we are investigating the suspected location and digging it," director of the Criminal Investigation Department of the East Java Police, Senior Commissioner Rusli Nasution said on Monday.

Two bodies were lifted from a hole beside a septic tank, two from a hole near the house`s kitchen and one in a hole where previous victims were found. It was believed that they were the bodies of Nanik Kristanti and her daughter Silvia Ramadhani, Agustinus Fitri Setyawan, M Zainul Abidin alias Zaki M Aksoni.

Previously, on July 22, 2008, police found four bodies buried in two holes in the backyard of Ryan`s father`s house in Jatiwates village, Tembelang sub-district, Jombang district, Eat Java. Ryan had also admitted to murdering the four.

They are the bodies of Guruh Setyo Pramono (27), Grandy (24), Vincentius Yudhy Priyono (30) and Ariel Somba Sitanggang (34).

The revelation of the case began when police found seven parts of a mutilated body in two locations in Jalan Kebagusan Raya, Pasar Minggu, East Jakarta, on Saturday, July 12, 2008. The body parts which were contained in a suitcase, a backpack and a plastic bag, were later identified as belonging to Heri Santoso (40).

Police later also found out that after Heri Santoso`s death Rp6 million had been withdrawn from his bank account through an ATM. From unidentified sources the police had learned that Ryan was holding Santoso`s ATM card.

On July 15, 2008, Ryan was arrested in the Pesona Kayangan housing complex, East Depok, a satellite town east of Jakarta. Investigators confiscated an ATM card as well as a credit card in Heri Santoso`s name.

Besides admitting to having mutilated Santoso, Ryan also confessed he had killed Guruh Setyo Pramono, Grandy, Vincentius Yudhy Priyono and Ariel Somba Sitanggang. Grandy is believed to be a Dutch national.

With the confessions, police investigated the house of Ryan`s father in Jombang, East Java, where they in the backyard they found four bodies buried in two holes. Guruh was buried in the first hole while Grandy, Vincentius and Ariel were buried in the second hole.

In Depok, Ryan confessed, he killed and mutilated his close friend Heri Santoso on July 11, 2008, and disposed of the body parts in Kebagusan, Jakarta. The motive was that he was jealous as Santoso was interested in and wanted to have a date with Noval who was Ryan`s lover.

The Jakarta Police had named Ryan as a suspect in the mutilation case because they had pieces of strong evidence against him.

Ryan`s motive for killing the people whose bodies were found in Jombang , however, is still unknown. So far, police have named Ryan as the sole suspect in the serial murders.

"We have not yet named any other suspects besides Ryan. We cannot make predictions before we have strong evidence," director of the Criminal Investigation Department of the East Java Police, Senior Commissioner Rusli Nasution, said.

"Of the four, one victim (Guruh) was killed some time in the in July-August period in 2007, another (Grandy) in January 2008 and two (Vincentius and Ariel) in April 2008," he said.

Police said they had not yet found the motive of the serial killings by Ryan which had sparked a public uproar of late. But they suspect Ryan was suffering from a sexual abnormality and driven by a desire to take the victims` belongings.

In order to establish his motive more accurately, police would have Ryan examined by a number of psychologists.  July 28, 2008

RI RESUMES TREE-PLANTING DRIVE TO ABSORB MORE CARBON

By Andi Abdussalam

      Jakarta, July 25 (ANTARA) - Indonesia will continue its tree planting drive in order to recover its damaged forests, re-green its denuded land areas and help reduce global warming by providing homes for billions of tons of carbon sink.

         President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono --who launched a nation-wide program to plant 79 million trees late last year-- is expected to announce another drive to plant 100 million threes across the country next November.

         "Indonesia will have an additional potential to absorb 2.4 million tons of carbon if the government is successful in its efforts to mobilize the people to plant 100 million trees by the end of 2008," Forestry Minister MS Kaban said on Wednesday.

         Kaban said that besides the additional carbon absorption potential from the 100 million trees, Indonesia also had other potentials to absorb billions tons of carbon.

         The 100 million trees, to be planted on 100,000 hectares-- is worth about US$12 million on the assumption that each hectare could absorb 24 tons of carbon at the price of US$5 per ton, the minister said.

         Indonesia which has 120.3 million hectares of forests is designating 37.5 million hectares of its forests to serve as a carbon sink in the global Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries (REDD) project.

         The REDD scheme was discussed in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Indonesia's tourist resort island of Bali last December.

         "If for each hectare in the REDD project Indonesia is paid US$10 a year, we will earn  US$3.75 billion per year," Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar said at the time.

         According to Forestry Minister MS Kaban, the problem is that Indonesia is still facing difficulties in marketing its forest areas which are able to absorb carbon.

         "There are mandatory and voluntary markets. The market must be prepared as well as possible. We have to prepare mandatory market at home while the voluntary market must be prepared abroad," Kaban added.

         He said that voluntary markets abroad already existed. So, the thing that remained to be done was negotiations with other countries.  The potential Indonesia has to absorb carbon is great.

         "The carbon has potential with a plus value which would be obtained from planting trees. It would help reduce global warming and   return the genetic resources of forests. This excludes the value to be obtained from the wood," he said.

         Therefore, he called on all components of the people to nurture tree planting spirit that had begun to arise since the 79 Million Tree Plantation Movement launched by President Yudhoyono in November 2007.

         "If we look at the double value of planting trees, we will feel obliged to spread the spirit of planting trees. Regional governments are asked to be active in motivating their citizens, particularly in an effort to overcome natural disasters due to environmental damage," he said.

         Indonesian forests which cover 120.3 million hectares, along with those of other tropical rain forest countries --such as Brazil, Cameroon, Congo, Costa Rica, Gabon, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea-- function as the lungs of the world. Indonesia and these countries have joined ranks amid the rising global warming threat.

         Forest fires and massive illegal logging in Indonesia raise concern that while its forests function as carbon absorber, they also contribute to gas emissions released into the atmosphere.

         Actually, Indonesian forests keep potential economic values.

         Elfian Effendi, executive director of Greenomics Indonesia, a natural resources advocacy non-governmental organization, once said that the economic value of Indonesia's forests reached hundreds of billions of dollars.

         Indonesia still has 36.5 million hectares of conservation and 36.7 million hectares of production forests with, due to their carbon absorption capacity, have a combined economic value of between 216.4 and 234.4 billion dollars, he said.

         Apart from that, Indonesian forests also hold almost 9,000 megatons of carbon concentration worth about 134.5 billion US dollars, he said.

         Elfian said that advanced countries must pay 134.5 billion dollars if they wanted to prevent Indonesia's deforestation from releasing 7,000 megatons of carbon into the atmosphere.

         "If advanced states want Indonesia to be at zero deforestation position on its production forests, they have to pay some 278.6 billion dollars as compensation," Elfian said.

         Virtually, a mechanism for carbon trade between developing countries and developed nations was discussed in the UNFCCC in Bali last year.

         As host country, Indonesia drafted a scheme called the Reductions of Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries (REDD).

         Under the REDD scheme, developing countries would market tons of carbon stored in their forests to developed countries who have obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

         Minister Rachmat Witoelar said that developed states were estimated to have set adaptation fund program amounting to between US$20 and US$30 billion a year.

         However, Elfian Effendi said the REDD scheme with which Indonesia is expected to get US$3.75 billion incentive a year, belittled the economic value of Indonesian forests.

    
(T.A014/A/HAJM/A/S012) 25-07-2008 22:12:40

INDONESIA IS TOO SLOW IN EXECUTING BALI BOMBERS

By Andi Abdussalam

     Jakarta, July 21 (ANTARA) - The planned execution of Amrozi, Imam Samudera and Mukhlas  --Indonesia's notorious terrorists who bombed Bali and killed 202 people in October 2002-- were until Monday still uncertain.
     "We have not received any notification yet about the execution of Amrozi and friends," Bambang Winahyo, head of penitentiary affairs of the Central Java office of the Ministry of Legal and Human Rights Affairs, said in Semarang on Monday.
     The public at home and abroad are now waiting for the execution of Amrozi (45), Imam Samudera (39) and Mukhlas or Ali Ghufron (48) following a statement on Friday last week by Attorney General Hendarman Supandji that their death penalties could now be carried out.
     There was even a speculation last week in Australia -- 88 Australians were killed in the bombing-- that Amrozi and friends would be executed at the weekend.
     As quoted by an Australian media, David 'Spike' Stewart, a farther of a victim in the bombing, claimed last week he had been informed by the Australian Federal Police that the execution would be carried out at the weekend.
     According to Attorney General Supandji, convicted Bali bombers Amrozi and friends could already be executed as their third appeal for a judicial review of the death sentence had been rejected.
     "In juridical sense, Amrozi's death penalty can now be carried out," the attorney general told the Prosecutor's Office Journalists Forum (Forwaka) on Friday.
     The document on the rejection of the appeal had been sent to the district court in Denpasar, Bali, but Supandji claimed on Friday the Denpasar higher prosecutor's office had not yet received it.
     "The Denpasar district court has not yet passed on the document to the local higher prosecutor's office," he added.
     The Denpasar higher prosecutor's office was expected to report to the attorney general's office when it had received the document.
     "If the document is already in our hands, then the execution (of Amrozi) can juridically be carried out," Supandji said.
     The attorney general's office had once suggested to Amrozi and friends to apply for presidential pardon or clemency but the bombers rejected the idea.
     With the rejection of their third appeal and their refusal to ask for clemency, there were practically no longer any legal avenues the bombers could use to prevent their executions.
     It was reported that the location of their execution had also been decided, namely in Central Java. Yet, Amrozi and friends who are incarcerated in Nusa Kambangan jail, Cilacap district, Central Java, are to be executed by the Bali prosecutor office.
     According to Bambang Winahyo, if the death penalties for Amrozi and friends are to be carried out, the executor will be the head of Bali's Prosecutor's Office. In this regard, the Central Java office of the Ministry of Legal and Human Rights Affairs will be notified.
     "But we have yet to receive any notification about the plan to execute the Bali bombers," he said.
     Bambang made the remarks in response to the attorney general's statement that Amrozi and friends could now be executed after their third appeal for legal review had been rejected.
     Head of Denpasar (Bali)'s District Court, Nyoman Gde Wirya said earlier that their appeal for a legal review had been rejected. He said that the Supreme Court said its decision No.257/PAN/VII/2008 dated July 7, that a request for a legal appeal could be made only once.
     "Thus, their legal appeal is rejected," he said adding that the copy of the Supreme Court's decision has also been sent to the chief of the Denpasar higher prosecutor's office.
     Until last weekend however, the Bali higher prosecutor's office had not yet been certain when the execution was to be carried out.
     "Information on the planned executions of Amrozi and friends, should be given by the Attorney General's Office," spokesman of Bali's Higher Prosecutor's Office, IGNA Endrawan, said.
     But he said that his office had prepared an executors' team and was now waiting for instruction from the attorney general.
     In the meantime, Achmad Michdan, Amrozi's lawyer, said that Amrozi, Imamam Samudra and Mukhlas, were now ready to undergo execution provided it would be done in accordance with Islamic law.
     "In principle, it is no problem, as long as it has strong legal basis," Achmad Michdan, coordinator of the Muslim Lawyers' Team (TPM), said.
     The families of the death-row convicts have also been prepared for the execution. "Since the beginning, we have been ready for whatever decision is taken against Amrozi," Mashudi who represented Amrozi's family in Lamongan, East Java, said on Monday.
     He said that the families had  heard that the appeal filed by Amrozi, Imam Samudera and Ali Ghufron alias Mukhlas had also been rejected.
     "Family members in Lamongan, including Amrozi's mother, have no immediate plan to visit Amrozi in Nusakambangan jail," he said.

(T.A014/A/f001/a/f001) July 21, 2008

RI, TIMOR LESTE EXPRESS REMORSE OVER DILI ATROCITIES

By Andi Abdussalam           Jakarta, July 15 (ANTARA) - The governments of Indonesia and Timor Leste in Bali on Tuesday expressed deep regret over the gross human rights violations committed during and after the referendum that led to the secession of East Timor from Indonesia in September in 1999.          The two governments expressed  their regret in a joint statement signed by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his  Timor Leste counterpart  Ramos Horta,  and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao in Bali on Tuesday.          Both governments signed the 14-point joint statement after earlier on the day receiving a final report of the Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) set up by both governments to collect facts on alleged human rights violations in East Timor and to help restore the relations between the two countries.          "We would like to express our deepest regret over the past violence that has claimed so many lives and material loss," President Yudhoyono said after receiving the final report from the CTF at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Tuesday.          The Indonesian government will study and take follow-up steps with regard to the CTF recommendations and take initiatives to improve the friendship between the peoples of Indonesia and Timor Leste.          Meanwhile, Timor Leste President Ramos Horta said his government would study and discuss the report, and carry out the CTF recommendations. "We agree to carry out the recommendations as far as possible," Horta said.          In response to the recommendations and other initiatives suggested by the commission, a joint ministerial commission will  formulate an action plan.          The report, leaked to several media organisations including AAP in Australia last week, said that Indonesia bore responsibility for the violations, which included mass murder, rape and torture.          It also said that the pro-Indonesia militia groups, the Indonesian government, military and police "must all bear an  institutional responsibility for the  gross human rights violations  against civilians".          But the report said pro-independence groups in East Timor also committed gross human rights violations, including illegal detentions, for which that country also owed Indonesia an apology.          The Commission was opposed to a controversial option of  granting an amnesty to the perpetrators, saying it would not be in keeping with "its goals of restoring human dignity, creating the foundation for reconciliation ... and ensuring that violence would not recure".          In response to the report,  National Defense Forces (TNI) Chief Gen Djoko Santoso said he was ready to face the possible consequences, if it was true that the Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission of Truth and Friendship had declared the TNI institutionally responsible for the human rights violations in East Timor.          "I still don't know (about CTF's statement) but if the TNI as an institution is held responsible, I will be accountable. I have just returned from Lebanon, so I have not yet seen the (CTF)'s formulation," he said at the Merdeka Palace last week.          But Santoso did not explain in what way he would live up to his responsibility. "I still don't know what the (CTF's) has actually said. When I have received it, we will consider in what way we will show our responsibility," he said.          In the meantime, retired General Wiranto, who was the TNI chief  during the 1999 East Timor polls, said the East Timor case was already settled and closed.          "All army generals who were suspected of involvement in the East Timor riots had been tried by an extra-ordinary military tribunal and all of them were found not guilty," he said on Tuesday.          He said that should the case be taken to an international tribunal, he should first wait for the decisions of both  governments.          "We leave it to the governments of both nations and we are of the opinion that there were no mistakes at that time and all were done by the book," Wiranto said.          According to the CTF report, the Indonesian military, police and East Timor government officials were at the time involved in every stage of activities that led to gross human rights violations, including murder, rape, torture, extra-judicial arrests, and forced deportation of East Timorese. The pro-independence militia committed acts of violence during the referendum in 1999.          But the report  said that  pro-independence groups in East Timor also committed gross human rights violations - namely illegal detentions - and that state must also it is sorry.          Indonesian Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said human rights violations in East Timor were the responsibility of the governments of Indonesia and Timor Leste. "Joint responsibility is one of the principles that should be put forward or be taken as  basis for responding to the report of the CTF," the defense minister said in a working meeting with TNI commander Gen. Djoko Santoso on Monday.          In this case, both sides would not look into the past too long in their attempt to find the truth and justice. "So, there should be no words of apology but an expression of deep regret which is to be conveyed by both presidents to their respective peoples," he said.          He said that what was found by the CTF was a matter of restorative justice whose nature was to restore both nations' relations and peoples, so that both sides should not go too far to question matters done by both countries in September 1999.          The CTF report referred to the principle that both sides had committed gross human rights violations in East Timor. "This must be underlined because media reports in Australia mentioned as if it was only Indonesia which had committed human rights violations in East Timor," he said.    (T.A014/A/HNG/A/E002) 15-07-2008 22:38:42

ANTI-GRAFT COMMISSION TURNS ATTENTION TO OIL SECTOR

By Andi Abdussalam

           Jakarta, July 11 (ANTARA) - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) which has already netted or brought to justice numerous  "untouchables" such as law-makers, public prosecutors and ranking government officials for graft or corruption, is now turning its attention to people in the country's least transparent business, the oil and gas sector.

         The KPK is gathering information on alleged corruption in the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulating Body (BP Migas). Officials at state-owned oil company Pertamina and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) must also get ready to be summoned by the KPK.

         "We are now at the stage of collecting information regarding  BP Migas," KPK's deputy chairman for prevention, M Jasin, was quoted as saying by Republika daily on Monday.

         The KPK is to begin its investigations in the oil sector by verifying official data on  oil lifting that have been produced through  calculations  considered not transparent. It will investigate alleged mistakes in the mechanism of oil lifting and reporting the proceeds of oil and gas sales.

         KPK Deputy Chairman Haryono said on Thursday it was believed the results of the official oil and gas lifting  calculations so far were  contradictory to the facts on the ground. The calculation of oil and gas exploration proceeds were not carried out in the oil drilling fields but in Jakarta by a number of government agencies.

         According to  Haryono,  the results of the ecisting calculation mechanism  could well be erroneous  because those who had done the calculations did not know the conditions in the field, including data on exploited natural wealth.

         The results of calculations made in Jakarta must match the amount of oil and gas pumped up in the mining locations.  For this purpose, the KPK and the BP Migas agreed to set up a technical team.

         The team will be charged with the task of evaluating various oil and gas management practices, particularly those related to practices so far considered not transparent.

         Haryono said the team would work to solve various technical problems, among others those related to the lifting mechanism, supervision mechanism which was viewed to be still weak and improvements in the asset management mechanism.

         BP Migas Chief Priyono said he hailed the KPK's efforts to improve management in the oil and gas sector. "We are ready to carry out improvements," he said.

         The KPK's initiative to improve management in the oil and gas sector was based on a report by the State Audit Board (BPK) which cast doubt on the veracity of t the results of the oil and gas lifting calculations.

         According to Republika, the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) has received a copy of a BPK audit report which indicated misappropriations of oil and gas proceeds amounting to Rp120.3 trillion. The money was not recorded as  state revenue and was spent not through the state budget.

         The KPK also received a report from ICW about a corruption case in  BP Migas. Therefore,  ICW urged the KPK to investigate the alleged corruption case in the oil and gas sector which had the potential to inflict Rp194 trillion in losses to the state.

         "We have reported the corruption allegations in  BP Migas to the KPK. We call on the anti-graft commission to investigate it immediately," ICW's coordinator for legal and court monitoring affairs Emerson Juntho was quoted as saying.

         The low  income the state received from the oil and gas exploitation activities, according to Emerson, indicated  rampant corruption  in  BP Migas. This was why, there was no transparency in the oil and gas mining production sector.

         "The absence of transparency in the oil and gas production sector is also reflected in the swelling of production costs that have to be borne by the government," Emerson said.

         The head of ICW's data distribution  center, Firdaus Elyas,  said based on data collected from  BP Migas, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) and the Ministry of Finance, the ICW had found indications of irregularities that had happened during the past seven years and could have caused Rp194 trillion in losses to the state.

         The alleged corruption of the state revenues from the oil and gas sector was detected by the ICW when it found that the amount of Indonesia's reported oil production was smaller than that actually produced.

         According  ICW's calculation, more than 16.1 million barrels were lost every year as a result of the difference between the reported amount and the real oil and gas being  produced.

         Therefore, the KPK will carry out recalculation of oil lifting. Of course, the recalculation of oil lifting is hailed by the public. At least oil producing provinces will be informed of the actual amount of oil and gas pumped up from their wells.

         "We hail and support the KPK's efforts to recalculate oil lifting because they will also benefit South Sumatra province," Elianuddin HB, deputy chairman of South Sumatra's Regional Legislative Assembly (DPRD), said on Thursday.

         He said so far South Sumatra had never been informed about how much oil and gas it was producing. With the recalculation by the KPK there would be openness on the amount of its oil and gas produced in the province.

         "Thus, we will know the amount of the revenue the province will receive from the oil production-sharing contracts," he said.

         South Sumatra simply received its share from the production sharing proceeds given by the central government without knowing how much oil and gas was pumped up from its wells.

         "So, we hail the KPK plan to recalculate oil lifting in this province," he said.

         Indonesia's oil production reached its first peak in 1977, at approximately 1.6 million barrels per day, rising from 500,000 barrels per day in just 10 years. Production peaked a second time in 1995, again just over 1.6 million barrels a day.

         But since 1995, production has steadily declined and in 2006 was down to just 1 million  barrels per day, or roughly a 37.5 percent decline, making the country a net oil importer.  (T.A014/A/HAJM/12;50/A/F001) 11-07-2008 12:55:53

PUBLIC NEED TO CONTROL HOUSE FUEL INQUIRY

By Andi Abdussalam

         Jakarta, July 10 (ANTARA) - The public, including students and the media must watch the House of Representatives (DPR)'s Fuel Oil Price Hike Inquiry Committee so that it will carry out its mission effectively.

         Observers feared that the House Committee, whose leadership was inducted on Wednesday about three weeks after the House decided to launch the inquiry, would only serve as a means of politicians to gain popularity and to improve their image amid allegations of corruption that plagued certain legislators.

         "Since the beginning, I have viewed the House inquiry merely as  a political breakthrough for politicians in the House to improve their political parties' images," said Boni Margens, a political science lecturer at the University of Indonesia (UI)'s Social and Political Sciences Faculty, here on Thursday.

         The House's plenary meeting last June 24, 2008, had agreed to use its inquiry right on the government's policy to increase fuel oil prices by an average of 28.7 percent. For this purpose, the House early this month formed an inquiry committee consisting of 50 legislators from all political party factions
    In Boni Margens's view, the DPR's initiative to conduct an inquiry into the government's decision to raise fuel oil prices  appears only to be an effort to improve the images of the legislators and their respective political parties.

         Therefore, the public must seriously supervise the performance of the House's Fuel Oil Price Hike Inquiry Committee so that it would do its task in accordance with the public's expectations.

         "The people must keep a watch on how the Inquiry Committee exercises the House's right of inquiry," Bergens said.

         The inquiry into the government's fuel oil price hiking policy must be carried out transparently. Otherwise, it would only become a "political joke" and fail to provide a critical assessment of the government's policy in managing the country's energy sources.

         "The inquiry would then only serve as a political commodity for politicians in the House. That's why, serious public control is needed," he said. Bergens was afraid the legislators did not really  intend to make a critical examination of the government's policy. "That's why public pressure and control are needed.

         Calls for supervision over the implementation of the inquiry were also made by former People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) chairman Amien Rais. He recently asked students and the media to watch the execution of the DPR's inquiry.

         "I call on students and the mass media to keep an eye on the House special committee that will handle the inquiry so the initiative will not evaporate," Rais said.

         Speaking to the press after participating in a discussion on the position and orientation of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) members in the global Islamic community, he said, if not constantly watched over by the public, spectacular initiatives in the parliament often lost steam or tapered off before they had achieved anything.

         "I hope the House special committee handling the inquiry will be able to bring to light all the scandals in the oil industry that have so far been covered up," said Rais who is also a former chairman of Muhammadiyah, the second largest Muslim organization in the country.

         In the meantime, Zulkifli Hasan, who was named chairman of the House Inquiry Committee on Wednesday, said the committee would work immediately. "I will not waste time. I will hold a leadership meeting tonight," Zulkifli Hasan, said after he was appointed chairman of the committee on Wednesday evening.

         Soon after he was installed as the committee chairman on Wednesday, Zulkifli Hasan directly called a leadership meeting that evening to discuss programs and steps the committee would take.

         In the performance of its mission, the committee has the right to summon anybody involved in the production and distribution of fuel oils to satisfy the House's need to know the reasons for the government's decision to raise the domestic fuel oil prices by more than 28 percent last May.  
    The committee will also study the actual conditions of Indonesia amid the world crude price hikes. Indonesia is actually an oil producing country but its abundant natural resources had yet to benefit the people.

         In this case, the inquiry committee will study the possibility of an oil mafia which harms the interest of the people. It will also investigate alleged ineffective and inefficient management in state-owned oil company Pertamina, as well as possible corruption cases in the company.

         According to Zulkifli, BP Migas (Oil and Gas Regulating Body) will become the focus of the committee's investigation.

         The public has often voiced allegations on the existence of corruption in Pertamina and BP Migas. A finding of the State Audit Board (BPK) indicated that there were deviations in the state oil company.

         The inquiry committee will follow up on the BPK finding. In this regard the inquiry committee will work together with the BPK and the Corruption Elimination Commission (KPK).

         In the face of the inquiry, the government said it was ready.  Minister/State Secretary Hatta Radjasa told the House recently that the government was "not afraid" in the face of the inquiry.

         The government raised domestic fuel oil prices in May as part of its efforts to reduce its increasing fuel subsidy amid the upward trend of the global crude prices which were hovering at US$120 a barrel, which could raise the fuel subsidy to more than Rp125 trillion, placing a heavy burden on the state budget
    "We are ready... the government will respond to it," he told reporters.

          The government will duly explain its position and reasons for raising the fuel oil prices while Indonesia needs 1.100 million barrels of oil per day, whereas its oil production is only 900,000 barrels per day so that it has to import 200,000 barrels per day.

          After all, when the world crude oil price approaches US$150 per barrel, the fuel oil subsidy would reach Rp230 trillion in addition to Rp80 trillion for the electricity subsidy.

(T.A014/A/HNG/B003) 10-07-2008 22:24:04