Charting The Flow

Non-budgetary funds from the Department of Maritime Affairs have ended up all over the place. Some have even gone to presidential election campaign teams.

BEING named a defendant and undergoing four months of incarceration in the National Police Headquarters Criminal Investigation Bureau detention center has not changed Rokhmin Dahuri’s appearance greatly. Sitting in the witness chair at the Anticorruption Court, wearing a blue batik shirt complemented with black trousers and neatly combed grey hair, he still looks smart and relaxed.

On Wednesday last week, the former Maritime & Fisheries Minister during the era of President Megawati Sukarnoputri attended his fourth court hearing. He listened closely as the panel of judges took turns in reading out their response to his defense that he had presented at the previous hearing.

In the demurrer, the professor of the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) stated that investigators from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) did not have the authority to question him. The reason being that the status of the investigators was unclear.

Rokhmin’s attorney Muhammad Assegaf likewise said that the investigator in Rokhmin’s case was a police officer, Sr. Comr. Eddy Supriadi. “KPK investigators should not be linked with their original position and post,” he said. Because of this, he said the charges put forward by the KPK prosecutor were legally invalid.

Assegaf’s arguments, however, were rejected. According to the panel of judges, the KPK investigator was indeed both a police officer or public prosecutor because, if this status were abolished, their status as an investigator would be automatically invalidated. The panel of judges therefore, rejected Rokhmin’s demurrer. “The charges are valid,” said Mansyurdin, the presiding judge hearing Rokhmin’s case. This week the hearing into Rokhmin’s case moved on to the examination of witnesses.

Rokhmin is being tried after being caught out over a case involving non-budgetary funds. The funds were taken from every single project budget under the jurisdiction of the Maritime Affairs Department equivalent to 1 percent of the value of the project. According to a Tempo source, the initial discussion on the project levy was held at the hillside resort town of Puncak, Bogor, in February 2002. “At that time the Maritime Affairs Department was organizing a coordination meeting,” they said. The meeting on the project levy, said the source, was continued later in Jakarta.

Secretary-General of the Maritime Affairs Department, Andin H. Taryoto, who was appointed as the non-budgetary funds coordinator has also been named a suspect. The project levies proceeded without a hitch. Some were deducted directly when budgets were handed down or in other cases regional government officials made special visits to Jakarta to deposit them. “It was an instruction from the Department right, we had no authority to refuse,” said Ubaidillah, former head of the Banten Provincial Maritime & Fisheries Office.

During his testimony, the former Director-General for Institutional & Marketing Capacity Improvement, Suryo Supeno, admitted to having deposited monies for non-budgetary funds. So too did the former Director-General of Fishery Products, Husni Manggabarani, and the former Director-General of Fishery Cultivation Susilo Indroyono. “The majority raised objections. Eventually, it was voluntary in nature,” said Susilo.

Initially, data on the entry and expenditure of the deposits was not recorded. It was simply noted as collected deposits at Rp652 billion. A year later the non-budgetary funds began to be carefully recorded. In 2003, for example, total deposits were recorded at Rp5.5 billion. In 2004 collected funds reached as much as Rp7 billion.

It turns out that these levies were not just valid within the Department, but also included contributions from businesspeople and Maritime Affairs Department partners. Didi Sadili, former head off the Sub-Directorate for the Identification of Small-Island Potential, had the job of holding the account for these deposits by businesspeople. The returns were as much as Rp19.7 billion. The total amount of non-budgetary funds collected was around Rp30 billion.

Rokhmin has not attempted to refute this. “This was another means by which to assist communities,” he said, “particularly fishermen.” The funds did indeed flow into and find their way into the pockets of many different parties. The party that has been calculated to have most frequently benefited from these funds was the House of Representatives (DPR). For the deliberations on the Draft Law on Fisheries for example, it was recorded that the Maritime Affairs Department used up Rp5 billion in funds taken from the non-budgetary funds. But DPR members who have been repeatedly mentioned in relation to these monies deny having received the funds. “I never received any such funds,” said Golkar Party legislator Awal Kusumah.

Aside from members of the DPR, National Awakening Party Secretary-General Syaifullah Yusuf and former President Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) also got a share of the funds. Around Rp30 million in all. Both however have stated that they never received any funds. “I have never heard about there being assistance for Gus Dur. Perhaps there may be someone who made use of Gus Dur’s name,” said Yeni Wahid, Gus Dur’s daughter.

One of the institutions that received funds was Rokhmin’s alma mater, the IPB, amounting to around Rp306 million. But when asked to confirm the matter, IPB’s Deputy Director of Finance, Herry Suhardiyanto shrugged off the existence of funds from Rokhmin. “All of the funds that come into IPB are recorded and there were no funds from Rokhmin,” said Herry.

A Tempo source that knows the details of the flow of funds said that several members of presidential election campaign teams have also received the funds. One of these was “SBY’s election campaign team.” “The size of the funds received was Rp250 million. I suspect the KPK also has data on the name of the person that received it,” said the source. But when speaking with Tempo, the coordinator of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Jusuf Kalla Joint National Campaign Team, Usamah Hisyam, denied the existence of any such contribution. “It doesn’t exist. Who was the contribution made to, that’s the person you should ask,” said Usamah.

When Rokhmin stepped down as minister and was replaced by Freddy Numberi in October 2004, the levies were in fact still taking place. Freddy claims not to have any knowledge about the non-budgetary funds since there was no handover of the funds when he took office. Speaking with KPK investigators, Freddy only admitted to knowing about the existence of the funds from Andin in 2005. “I said that it isn’t allowed because it violates the rules. However because the funds had already been collected and were significant, I asked that they be used for the needs of the Department,” he said.

What is clear from the records is that Freddy often made use of the funds. For the procurement of household goods for his official residence for example, amounting to as much as Rp90 million, and a trip to Rome costing Rp93 million. “Certainly, there were activities such as that, but I didn’t know the money came from the non-budgetary funds,” Ferry told KPK investigators in November 2006.

According to KPK spokesperson Johan Budi S.P., investigators are currently tracing where exactly the funds flowed. “Gathering evidence in particular,” he said. This is clearly not a simple matter. The problem is that in matters relating to the use of these funds, recipients were usually reluctant to sign receipts.

According to Tempo’s investigations, most of those who signed receipts were indeed officials from the Maritime Affairs Department itself. Asri Setiawati, the former head of the Administration Section of the Public Service Center at the Maritime Affairs Department, for example, admits to frequently signing for the disbursement of the funds. “I just did as I was ordered,” said Asri who is now the head of the Central Data & Information Agency.

According to Asri, the person who most often instructed him to disburse the funds was Adi Priana Pasaribu, head of the Public Service Center who now holds the post of head of the Indonesian Civil Servants Corps at the Maritime Affairs Department. Adi however declined to make any comment in relation to the funds. “I could influence the court hearings, what’s more I’m not a witness,” he said.

The non-budgetary funds case is indeed a long way from being resolved and has only got as far as indicting Rokhmin and Andin. Anticorruption activists have asked the KPK to question anyone at all who received “Rokhmin’s money.” “The KPK must investigate everyone, including the politicians who received the funds,” said Denny Indrayana, head of the Gadjah Mada University Anticorruption Study Center.

Nurlis E. Meuko,Abdul Manan,Budi S. Haris, and Deffan P.

Tempo Magazine, No. 33/VII/Apr 17 - 23, 2007


From Batik to Tailoring Costs

AS much as Rp11 billion in non-budgetary funds was collected by the Department of Maritime Affairs & Fisheries. According to an indictment by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), this much again was embezzled by former Maritime Affairs Minister Rokhmin Dahuri.

Modus Operandi:

Collected from Maritime & Fisheries Offices throughout Indonesia, the Directorate General for Coastal & Small-Islands Affairs and infrastructure development projects by the Maritime Affairs Department.

Managed by: Maritime Affairs Department Secretary-General Andin H. Tartoyo.

Utilization of funds: For Rokhmin’s ministerial needs, the deliberation of draft legislation, contributions to House of Representatives (DPR) members, non-government organizations and others. Rokhmin’s staff carefully recorded the disbursement of funds.

The following is a breakdown of non-budgetary fund disbursements being investigated by the KPK.

2003

Funds collected

Rp5,527,535,320

Disbursements:

January

* A trip by Fisheries Commission Chair Awal Kusumah Ali, Rp20 million.
* Necessities for the Draft Bill on Fisheries, Rp50 million.
* Medical treatment for Awal, Rp10 million.

February

* Medical treatment costs for Awal (as Chair of Commission XI), Rp15 million.
* Deliberations on the Draft Fisheries Bill at the Santika Hotel, Rp50 million.

March

* Deliberations on the Draft Fisheries Bill with the DPR, Rp135 million.
* A working visit to South Sulawesi by Rokhmin and Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Rp30 million.

April

* Expenses for the deliberations on the Draft Fisheries Bill between Rokhmin and the DPR, Rp129,300,000.
* Assistance for the construction of multipurpose buildings in Cilacap, Rp20 million.

# June The Darul Falah Islamic Boarding School, Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) and seminars, Rp59 million.

July

* Expenses for a working visit by Awal, Rp15 million.
* IPB alumni reunion, Rp50 million.
* Necessities for the women’s wing of the Islamic mass organization Nahdlatul Ulama (Muslimat NU), Rp25 million.
* Indonesian National Youth Committee national working meeting in Banten, Rp10 million.

August

* Working visit by Rokhmin to East Nusa Tenggara, Rp146,072,000.
* Assistance to the Department of Cultural Affairs for an expedition to Borobudur, Rp49 million.

September

* Necessities for DPR members, Rp650 million.
* Expenses for a meeting between Rokhmin and the DPR, Rp57,500,000.

October
# Batik for President Megawati Sukarnoputri and husband Taufik Kiemas, Rp10 million.

November

* DPR working visit expenses, Rp32 million.
* DPR meeting expenses, Rp20,750,000.
* Lebaran holiday packages for 57 DPR members and 14 DPR secretarial staff, Rp158 million.
* Contribution to the Association of Islamic Students (HMI) Congresses in Brebes and South Sumatra, Rp104 million.
* Fast-breaking ceremony between the Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals and the Islamic Students Association Alumni Corps, Rp35 million.

December

* Assistance for former President Abdurrahman Wahid, former Environment Minister, Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, and State Minister for the Development of Disadvantaged Regions, Saifullah Yusuf, Rp60 million.
* Meeting with DPR members, Rp18,931,730.
* Contributions to the National Mandate Party and Andalas University, Rp125 million.
* In 2003 the funds used for Rokhmin’s personal needs amounted to as much as Rp35,500,000. Expenses for scholarly presentations meanwhile were as much as Rp353,675,000.

2004

Funds collected

Rp7 billion

January

* Expenses for a trip by Saifullah Yusuf, Golkar Party legislator Slamet Effendi Yusuf, and Anthoni Amir.
* A visit by Sarwono to Holland, a working visit by Rokhmin and medical treatment for Ketut Nurjaya, Rp277,850,000.
* Expenses for a working visit by DPR members to South Kalimantan, Central Java and Jambi, Rp87 million.

February
# Assistance for the United Development Party, Golkar, the Community Cooperative for Marginalized Societies, Tokoh magazine, an IPB workshop and Bapak Aman, Rp330 million.

March
# Assistance for the Islamic Union Party, HMI, LDNU, Gowa Mataram, Indonesian Students Action Front and the IPB Student Executive Council, Rp500 million.

April
# Expenses for a DPR working visit to the Maluku Islands, Rp14,500,000.

May

* Expenses for a DPR working visit to North Sumatra, Rp20 million.
* Expenses for a working meeting between Rokhmin and the DPR, Rp333,950,000.
* Expenses for a working visit by DPR Commission III member Awaludin Kusuma, Rp4 million.

June
# Expenses for a working meeting with the DPR and Rokhmin’s ministerial activities, Rp700 million.

July
# Expenses for a meeting with DPR members, Rp220 million.

August
# Expenses for a meeting with the DPR, Rp398 million.
# Expenses for a DPR working visit to Buyat in North Sulawesi, Rp25 million.

September
# Necessities for the DPR secretariat, Rp151 million.
# Expenses for a meeting with the DPR, Rp107,125,000.

October

* The Secretary-General disburses funds of Rp367 million.
* Funds are disbursed up until October 23, two days after Rokhmin is replaced by Freddy Numberi. Among other things, funds of Rp200 million are used to pay for Rokhmin’s operational needs.
* Each month over 2004 there were disbursements for repairs to Rokhmin’s official Volvo car. The total for these repairs came to Rp95 million.

The Freddy Era
After Freddy Numberi became Minister of Maritime Affairs, among other things the non-budgetary funds levies continued to be used for:

* A contribution to the Democrat Youth National Committee on November 11, 2004, Rp10 million.
* A contribution to the Muslimat NU in Batam, Rp30 million.
* A contribution to the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle Lebaran Holidays, Rp20 million.
* A visit by Rokhmin along with his wife and staff to Rome in February 2005, Rp93 million.
* The cost of procuring household goods for Rokhmin’s official residence, Rp90 million.
* Rokhmin’s 2005 Christmas open house and New Year celebrations, Rp38 million.
* Rokhmin’s tailoring expenses, Rp5 million.

Sunariah/LRB

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