Democrat Party politicians were actively involved in the Hambalang Hill project: from budget planning to procuring the land deed. Some of the money is suspected of going into party coffers.
After half a year at the Cipinang correctional facility in East Jakarta, Muhammad Nazaruddin still displays signs of arrogance. Guests must wait to meet this former Democrat Party treasurer. A number of fellow inmates first seek an empty room on the second floor. When it is ready, Nazaruddin is picked up from his cell in Block B and brought to meet his guest at the second-floor room.
As in previous two trips to see Nazaruddin at Cipinang Prison, Tempo waited about an hour before Nazaruddin made his appearance, accompanied by a tough looking fellow inmate, Andhika Gumilang, who sported a crew cut and rolled-up sleeves exposing tattooed arms. Andhika is the husband of Malinda Dee, both are charged with embezzling Citibank funds. Nazaruddin himself appeared neatly dressed in a long-sleeved batik shirt over trousers and a pair of Crocs.
At the meeting which lasted more than two hours, Nazaruddin, 34, spoke in detail about the sports center construction project in Hambalang Hill, near Bogor, West Java. He was never hesitant about voicing his views, like agreeing to Tempo's request to draw up a list of places where he said some of the meetings took place. "From the beginning, I was assigned by the party faction chairman to help take care of this project," he said.
In early 2010, when the plan for the Hambalang project was first discussed, Nazaruddin held the position of Democrat Party faction treasurer at the House of Representatives (DPR). Its chairman was Anas Urbaningrum. He revealed that a number of his colleagues in the legislature, like Angelina Sondakh, Mirwan Amir, Mahyudin and Ignatius Mulyono, were actively involved in this project.
He also referred to the Youth and Sports Minister, Andi Mallarangeng, and Ministry Secretary Wafid Muharam as being involved in the Hambalang Hill construction project.
These names gained public attention last year after the bribery scandal involving the 26th SEA Games Athletes Dormitory project in Palembang was exposed.
The Hambalang project began, according to Nazaruddin, with a meeting on the 10th floor of the Sports Ministry building in early 2010. Along with Angelina and Mahyudin, he also met Andi. The group who gathered that day had a mission: to ensure the budget deliberations favored their project. They agreed to ask Andi to appoint his secretary Wafid as the liaison between the Sports Ministry and Commission X in the DPR.
After this meeting, Angelina met Wafid, the result of which was reported to Anas. Nazaruddin was always present when such reports were made. Nevertheless, there seemed to be a nagging problem with the Hambalang project: the land was not officially certified, no deed. "At that time, Mas Anas thought of many options to the problem," said Nazaruddin.
Anas then called Ignatius Mulyono. From 2004-2009, Mulyono was coordinator of the Budget Council in Commission II, which deals with land issues. According to Nazaruddin, Mulyono assured him the land issue was easy to resolve. This was because Joyo Winoto, director of the National Land Agency, reportedly needed a favor in the legislature so he was willing to do a trade-off. It had to do with the enactment of the Land Bill. "Anas asked: what is the next move, Pak Ignatius?" To which, Mulyono replied, "How do you want it to go?"
Nazaruddin recounted that Anas asked Mulyono to arrange a meeting with Joyo. This took place the following week at the Nippon Kan Restaurant in the Hotel Sultan, in Jakarta. At the end of the meeting, Joyo promised that the certificate would be issued within a month's time.
Less than a week after this meeting, according to Nazaruddin, the land problem was resolved. Mulyono turned the land deed over to Anas, who in turn, gave it to his business colleague, Machfud Suroso, who then passed it on to Wafid Muharam at the Sports Ministry.
Ignatius Mulyono confirmed that he had once been asked by Anas to take care of the land problem. However, he denied there was a meeting at the Nippon Kan. He also said that he never met Joyo, but with the Land Agency chief secretary Managam Manurung. Instead of a deed, Mulyono only received a letter from the Land Agency stating that the rights to use Hambalang land belonged to the Sports Ministry. "I took it and gave it directly to Anas," he said.
The way in which the land problem was resolved was amazing. The rights to use this land was initially held by PT Buana Estate, a company owned by Probosutedjo, a Suharto family member. In 2002, the land was returned to the state, but a certificate could not be issued before there was a written release from Probosutedjo. Deddy Kusdinar, head of the ministry's Planning Bureau, was ordered by Wafid to write to Probosutedjo. "I tried, but we got no reply," he said.
Wafid, who is also an inmate at Cipinang and previously interviewed, said he sent three letters to Probosutedjo. None of them produced any response, until 2009. Probosutedjo wrote back, saying he did not object to the Hambalang land being managed by the Sports Ministry.
There are different versions to what really happened. Wafid later claimed he received a certificate for Hambalang with number 60 from the official in charge of delineating land acts. He said he did not know Machfud Suroso, who was mentioned by Nazaruddin as the person who could give him the land deed. In any case, the certificate was finally obtained.
***
With the land problem resolved, Democrat Party politicians moved on to the main event: the budget. Nazaruddin said he met with Anas and Machfud Suroso at the Chatter Box bar in Plaza Senayan. Observed to be in the same venue but at a different table, was PT Adhi Karya representative Teuku Bagus Mohammad Noor and one of his staff. "Machfud went back-and-forth between our table and Teuku Bagus's table," he said.
At this meeting, according to the former Democrat Party treasurer, PT Adhi Karya was assured of winning the construction bid for the project, given that the government was committed to funding it for Rp100 billion. At a previous meeting in the DPR party faction room, Nazaruddin said that Angelina Sondakh had tried to submit the name of Duta Graha Indah, another construction company. However, this company failed to put up the necessary financing.
The funds obtained from PT Adhi Karya in April 2010 were then doled out to finance party congress needs, to bribe legislatures in Senayan as well as some people at the Sports Ministry. There has never been any evidence of these illicit transactions. "Negotiations were made on torn pieces of paper," said Nazaruddin. "The number which had been agreed upon was written on two scraps of paper. Each party held one piece."
Teuku Bagus, who is presently the company's First Operations Director, could not be reached for confirmation. When reporters visited the office of PT Adhi Karya on Friday last week, one employee said that the company's top officials were at Cilegon. Speaking to Akbar Kurniawan from Tempo, Bagus claimed that Nazaruddin's story was untrue. After being questioned by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), two weeks ago, Bambang Tri Wibowo, the company's CEO had nothing to say.
Machfud is no stranger to Anas. They have been friends since Anas's university days in Surabaya. Along with Anas's wife, Athiyyah Laila, Machfud managed PT Dutasari Citralaras. This company was named a subcontractor four days after PT Adhi Karya, which was working in concert with PT Wijaya Karya, and signed a contract. This was quick, given that other subcontractors were only brought in around December 2010 or January 2011.
Wafid Muharam said he was twice visited by Machfud at the Ministry. However, he denied these meetings were about Hambalang. One businessperson who knows Machfud said that PT Dutasari often obtained subcontracts from government construction companies.
At this company, which is involved in mechanics, electrical works and plumbing, is Munadi Herlambang. He is the son of Muchayat, Deputy Minister of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) for Service Businesses, starting from September 2010. Through Msons Capital, Munadi holds 1,100 shares of stock in PT Dutasari the same amount owned by Athiyyah.
That, according to Nazaruddin, is why it was easy for PT Dutasari to obtain subcontracts from state construction companies. "If there was a disobedient SOE, Munadi would reprimand them through his father," said Nazaruddin. Munadi, like Nazaruddin and Anas, were Democrat Party senior officials.
Muchayat whom Nazaruddin mentioned by the nickname Ebes could not be interviewed. There was no response to telephone calls made and text messages sent, to him. Munadi Herlambang said he has left PT Dutasari. He said that he knew nothing about the Hambalang matter. "Just ask Machfud Suroso," he said.
Machfud Suroso was not at his Pondok Indah home in South Jakarta, which was undergoing renovation. A woman in her 40s who some workers said was the wife of the house owner declined to be interviewed. At the office of PT Dutasari, one staff member named Iis said that Machfud was unwilling to meet.
Anas also refused to meet. Tempo sent a written request for an interview, but there was no response. When contacted by BlackBerry message, he replied, "Even though Tempo has the right to dislike me, it can continue maintaining its reputation for fairness by not continuing with this street court." On several occasions, Anas denied he or his wife were involved in the Hambalang project.
***
Standing on 31.2 hectares of land on a ridge of the hill, the Hambalang project is aimed at replacing the education and training center in Ragunan. "Malaysia has Jalil Hill, and later we will have Hambalang Hill," said Wafid. The word 'Hill' in conjunction with 'Hambalang' is intentionally being used as a brand name to compete with Jalil Hill.
To construct this special project, the Youth and Sports Ministry budgeted Rp1.175 trillion. The funds were released in stages over several fiscal years. In 2010, Rp275 billion was released. The following year Rp475 billion was disbursed. In 2012, another Rp425 billion was released. This was just for the construction budget alone. When the funds to purchase indoor equipment were included, the total project budget comes to Rp2.57 trillion.
In the contract signed by the Adhi-Wika consortium, the project was targeted for completion on December 29 this year. This target will be delayed, as two buildings in Zone 3, namely the indoor tennis courts and the generator room, collapsed because of land subsidence in December.
This led the KPK to take a closer look at the Hambalang project, which dispatched a team to the area. Everyone claiming to know about the project was summoned for questioning. Wafid was questioned, then Minister Andi Mallarangeng on Thursday two weeks ago. Andi claimed he never accepted any money related to this project. "It is not true that I accepted bribes," he said. Only Democrat Party Chairman Anas Urbaningrum has not been summoned.
However, a flow of funds to Andi Mallarangeng was detected from a return of funds from the Sports Ministry by someone named Lisa Lukitawati. The return of this money was revealed by Mindo Rosalina Manulang, a member of Nazaruddin's staff, who is being charged in the Athletes Dormitory bribery case. Rosalina was arrested along with Wafid and the boss of PT Duta Graha Indah, Muhammad El Idris, on April last year.
Lisa, 42, who was contacted two weeks ago, said she handed over the money in a travel bag to a member of Rosalina's staff. She said she twice delivered money from Wafid around January 2010, although she claimed not to know the bags contained billions of rupiah. "I was told by Wafid that the bags contained documents," she said.
Unlike Nazaruddin's version, Rosalina said her boss asked that the Hambalang and Athlete Dormitory projects be given to PT Duta Graha Indah. Towards this end, the Permai Group owned by Nazaruddin had already paid Rp20 billion up-front as a bribe. However, it turned out that PT Duta Graha was only awarded the Athletes Dormitory project. That is why Nazaruddin asked Rosalina to withdraw half of the bribe money intended for Wafid.
The amount paid out was recorded in Rosa's conversation with Yulianis, her associate in the Permai Group, via BlackBerry Messenger, on October 2010. Rosalina mentioned a company expenditure of Rp21.5 billion. The breakdown was: Rp6 billion for DPR legislators through Angelina and Wayan Koster, and Rp5.5 billion plus Rp150 million for Wafid. Also, "And 10 for Pak Joyo and Mr. Minister." Rosalina did not explain who was meant by 'Pak Joyo' and 'Mr. Minister.'
In the financial report of the Permai Group, expenditures were listed as taking place on April 30, 2010. Nazaruddin going by the name of Amin R. asked Yulianis to make consecutive fund disbursements from the safe amounting to US$450,000, US$50,000, US$200,000, and US$400,000. Nazaruddin did not say who the money was for.
Then, on May 5, there were expenditures of Rp3 billion and Rp2 billion, respectively, for Angelina and Wayan Koster. On May 19, there was a cash expenditure for Wafid in the amount of Rp500 million. On June 12 and September 18, flow of funds were recorded for Wisler, one of Wafid's subordinates at the Ministry, in the amount of Rp50 million and Rp150 million.
According to Rosalina, after they could not get the Hambalang project, Nazaruddin ordered her to ask PT Adhi Karya how that company was able to win the bid. She got the information a top Adhi Karya official named Bagus and Arif: "The Hambalang project went directly to the top man." Speaking to the KPK, Rosalina said the 'top man' was none other than 'Mr. Minister.'
Nazaruddin even said that some of the money from Hambalang went to party coffers. These funds are listed on the financial report, which Nazaruddin made before he was fired, a year ago. Addressed to Party Chairman Anas Urbaningrum, the report format was very 'primitive.' Nazaruddin only listed the gross amount without any details. The initial balance was Rp1.5 billion. The cash receipts totaled almost Rp14 billion. There was also a pay-in of over Rp9 billion from Mirwan Amir, with the notation that the funds for these deposits came from a number of projects, including Hambalang.
When asked if he also took money for his personal use, Nazaruddin said, "I got it from the party chairman," he said laughingly. "The logic is that a treasurer may not overstep the chairman. If that is the case, I would no longer be treasurer."
By BS, Anton Septian, Rusman Paraqbueq, Febriyan, Tri Suharman
Tempo
No. 41/12, June 10, 2012
|
