AlaskaDenise
In Memoriam
Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari would soon be summoned as a witness in an ongoing investigation into alleged corruption within the Ministry of Health, the Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, said on Monday .
?We are still investigating what [the minister?s] role was in the case but we are confident that she might have some information regarding the case,? Bibit Samad Riyanto, KPK deputy head of investigations and prosecutions, told reporters at the commission?s headquarters in South Jakarta.
The case was first reported by the country?s leading anti-graft watchdog, Indonesian Corruption Watch, which told the commission last year that since 1998, a total of Rp 128 billion ($10.88 million) of the ministry?s budget had been embezzled.
The group based its reports on discrepancies found by the Center for Public Health Policy Studies, an independent organization, in several of the ministry?s projects.
The center found a difference of Rp 14.8 billion between the budget reported to the president and the actual money spent in a project to handle malnutrition in several provinces in 2005.
The center also found irregularities in financial reports for handling an avian influenza outbreak in 2006 and the provision of portable x-ray machines for hospitals in remote and underdeveloped areas in 2007.
However, the case that the KPK agreed to investigate surrounds the provision of laboratory equipment for several state-run hospitals.
?We suspect that there has been a markup and it?s very clear,? KPK deputy chairman Muhammad Jasin said, adding that four ministry officials were questioned on Monday.
?We are still estimating the losses to the state and we have not named any suspects yet. But we will keep a close eye on two officials at the ministry along with a vendor,? he said.
The four officials brought in for questioning were Lita Rahmalia, Tri Haryandito, Johannes Glen Nikijulu and Jehezkiel Panjaitan.
Sources at the commission said that the four were in charge of the provision of lab equipment.
The minister has strongly denied her involvement in the case and rejected allegations of corruption in her ministry.
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/national/article/10040.html
?We are still investigating what [the minister?s] role was in the case but we are confident that she might have some information regarding the case,? Bibit Samad Riyanto, KPK deputy head of investigations and prosecutions, told reporters at the commission?s headquarters in South Jakarta.
The case was first reported by the country?s leading anti-graft watchdog, Indonesian Corruption Watch, which told the commission last year that since 1998, a total of Rp 128 billion ($10.88 million) of the ministry?s budget had been embezzled.
The group based its reports on discrepancies found by the Center for Public Health Policy Studies, an independent organization, in several of the ministry?s projects.
The center found a difference of Rp 14.8 billion between the budget reported to the president and the actual money spent in a project to handle malnutrition in several provinces in 2005.
The center also found irregularities in financial reports for handling an avian influenza outbreak in 2006 and the provision of portable x-ray machines for hospitals in remote and underdeveloped areas in 2007.
However, the case that the KPK agreed to investigate surrounds the provision of laboratory equipment for several state-run hospitals.
?We suspect that there has been a markup and it?s very clear,? KPK deputy chairman Muhammad Jasin said, adding that four ministry officials were questioned on Monday.
?We are still estimating the losses to the state and we have not named any suspects yet. But we will keep a close eye on two officials at the ministry along with a vendor,? he said.
The four officials brought in for questioning were Lita Rahmalia, Tri Haryandito, Johannes Glen Nikijulu and Jehezkiel Panjaitan.
Sources at the commission said that the four were in charge of the provision of lab equipment.
The minister has strongly denied her involvement in the case and rejected allegations of corruption in her ministry.
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/national/article/10040.html