Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission must look into apparent fraud involved in the renovation of lawmakers' residences, a watchdog said on Sunday.

The Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) made the call in light of its claims that just one-fifth of the budget allocated for each home was actually spent on renovations.

Uchok Sky Khadafi, from Fitra, said it had submitted a complaint to the antigraft agency, also known as the KPK. "We hope that before lawmakers occupy the homes in January, the KPK investigates the case. It must be a priority," Uchok said, adding that poor monitoring had created fertile ground for corruption and collusion.

Uchok urged the Household Affairs Committee (BURT) to take responsibility and explain the renovation budget. "The BURT has a supervisory role, which means it should stop contractors' violations," he said.

A total of Rp 445 billion ($50 million) was approved for the project, Rp 335 billion to renovating the official residences of 495 legislators and the rest to build 10 new homes, a mosque and a school building at the House of Representatives housing complex in South of Jakarta. About Rp 717 million was allotted for each house, according to the watchdog.

State construction company Adhi Karya won the tender and sub-contracted it to another state-owned builder, Pembangunan Perumahan. The latter company again sub-contracted the project, this time to nine private companies that spent just Rp 152 million on each house, for a total of Rp 75 billion, leaving Rp 260 billion unaccounted for, Fitra said.

The deal between PP and the contractors was signed by three officials, with initial HN, S and DM, Uchok said. "Clearly there is a major mark-up of the project. That's the first violation," Uchok said.

The project also violated a rule that said government projects could only be sub-contracted when it involved additional work and even then could not be sub-contracted more than once.

BURT Deputy Chairman Pius Lustrilanang confirmed that Adhi Karya and PP had subcontracted the renovation work to some private contractors but refused to be pinned down for failing to be prudent with the budget allocation. "This project was approved by BURT members of the previous period, not us. So we know nothing about the deal and the subcontracts," Pius said.