Welcome Guest   |  Login   |   Signup
JG Logo
Fri, May 25, 2012
Archive Search

Indonesia Sports Minister Denies SEA Games Corruption Allegations
Novianti Setuningsih & Rizki Amelia | February 23, 2012

Youth and Sports Affairs Minister Andi Mallarangeng testifying during Muhammad Nazaruddin’s bribery trial at the Anti- Corruption Court in Jakarta on Wednesday. JG Photo/Yudhi Sukma Wijaya Youth and Sports Affairs Minister Andi Mallarangeng testifying during Muhammad Nazaruddin’s bribery trial at the Anti- Corruption Court in Jakarta on Wednesday. JG Photo/Yudhi Sukma Wijaya
Share This Page
0
5
0
5
Share with google+ :


Post a comment
Please login to post comment

Comments

padt
10:05am Feb 24, 2012

He's the Minister and he's responsible ultimately for what happens in his Ministry and responsible for the actions of his subordinates.

To admit(?) that he did not know anything about the details of such an important project is itself negligence.

He's the boss: it happened on his watch; he bares a lot of responsibility; it was his duty to see that everything in his department was carried out legally and transparently.

But we all know that is not what this is about.

It's about corruption on a massive scale and protecting corrupt people who have betrayed the country.

blightyboy is right - check the money trails - lots of them - and there wont be any surprises where they lead and what is discovered.

It's the bull in the room no one is prepared to talk about.


sutaniskandarmuda
9:02am Feb 24, 2012

Some advice for you Mr Andi: practice lying in front of a mirror first; try to avoid that nervous tic and fidgeting of yours. The sweating? Mmm, perhaps lighter cotton clothing. The pallid complexion? Difficult. Work on your breathing perhaps. Getting caught? Sorry, too late.

Valkyrie
11:50am Feb 23, 2012

The ex MENPORA during last night talk show revealed distinctly (I guess on purpose that the fourth site for the games was not included during his watch.

---------------------------------

Another lie

The fourth site, Palembang was introduced by the current MENPORA with a Presidential Decree.

----------------------------------

The first three sites, namely Central Java, West Java and DKI had a budget of just over one hundred Billion Rupiahs. This budget had an asterisk attached to it, meaning there was no money available.

Hey Presto! Suddenly after the fourth site was approved, supported by Presidential Decree and a budget almost 10 times larger was approved.

One wonders why the judge and even the defense team were not aware of this.

It was also strange that Naz did not want to question the minister.

Why?


blightyboy
11:41am Feb 23, 2012

Follow the money! Check his wealth.

DrDez
10:13am Feb 23, 2012

to arrange who would win the tenders... 'arrange' is the key word there

  • Previous
  • 1
  • Next

Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng has distanced himself from scandals surrounding the Southeast Asian Games and Hambalang Stadium projects, saying he did not know the details of either project and denying ever receiving money from them.

Testifying as a witness in the trial of Muhammad Nazaruddin at Jakarta’s Anti-Corruption Court on Wednesday, Andi said he did not follow the tender process to determine who won the contract to build an athletes’ village for the Southeast Asian Games in Palembang.

“I appointed the secretary of the Sports Ministry, Wafid Muharram, to handle all the technical details of the project,” he said. “I didn’t know anything about the details of the tender process because I only received reports from him.”

Wafid was sentenced to three years in prison by the same court for receiving bribes in connection with the project.

Mindo Rosalina Manulang, a former Nazaruddin employee who has also been jailed in the case, earlier testified at the trial that Nazaruddin had given a total of Rp 20 billion ($2.2 million) to different officials to make sure the contracts to build the athletes’ village and Hambalang Stadium in Bogor went to construction firm Duta Graha Inda.

One of the judges hearing the case reminded Andi that government regulation required ministers to know the details of every project worth more than Rp 100 million in their ministry.

But Andi, who is also a senior official in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyonoc’s Democratic Party, insisted that Wafid had handled everything.

Andi also denied claims by other witnesses that he had met with a number of lawmakers, including Nazaruddin, the Democratic Party’s former treasurer, and Angelina Sondakh, the party’s deputy secretary general, to arrange who would win the tenders.

“I met with them but only to discuss my programs as minister,” he said.

Andi denied having received any kickbacks from the projects.

Earlier, Rosalina said through her lawyer that a minister had asked for a “fee” from the Rp 181 billion project to build the athletes’ village for the SEA Games.

Her lawyer, Achmad Rifai, had said the minister would testify as a witness in the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court but declined to name the minister or confirm if he had received the money.

Achmad said the minister had offered two projects to Rosalina during a meeting in early 2010, but demanded that she pay a fee for each project in advance.

He said a staff member from the minister’s office later called Rosalina and asked if she was still interested in the projects.

“It’s not me,” Andi said when questioned by Nazaruddin’s lawyer about the fee.

Andi repeatedly denied he had ever heard of Rosalina before the scandal broke.

He also denied that he had received a donation of Rp 150 million from Yulianis, another Nazaruddin employee, for his unsuccessful campaign to become Democratic Party chairman during a 2010 congress.

“I don’t know that or ever asked for anything from her,” he said.

Yulianis said earlier that she had given Rp 100 million to Anas Urbaningrum, who was elected Democratic chairman in 2010, and Rp 150 million to Andi.

After the hearing, one of the Democratic Party’s deputy chairmen, Sutan Bathoegana, said Andi’s link to the case had nothing to do with the party.