Deti Mega & Lenny Tristia Tambun, Jakarta – After several supposedly new buses purchased for use on the TransJakarta Busway and the Integrated City Busway (BKTB) were proven to be unfit for use, Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo urged his administration to find who was responsible for allowing the purchase of the lemons to go through.

"Someone has to be held responsible for this. Who? I think we already know," Joko said on Monday, implying the city's transportation agency's involvement in the case.

Five new TransJakarta buses and eight new BKTB buses were found to be damaged despite being bought from China a few weeks ago. Some of the buses' components – such as their power steering functions, oil valves and air filters – were not functioning properly. Furthermore, the buses' frames were rusted, the dashboard instruments unscrewed and the air conditioner compressors molded.

Despite his insinuation, Joko said that an investigation report hasn't been handed over to him yet. "We will check it again today," he said. "We will question the inspectorate. The investigation has been conducted, but I have no heard the results yet. I also want to check with the procurement team."

Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama also pushed for further inquiry into the matter. "If the new vehicles are already rusted, they will break down in no time," he said. "We will investigate this, especially because the handover has been done."

Basuki questioned why workers with the Jakarta Transportation Agency had not checked the vehicles thoroughly when they arrived from China.

"Logically, you have to check on the things you've bought. Nobody wants to get rusty goods," he said. "And if the agency knew that the vehicles were indeed damaged, they had the right to return them to the producer, but they chose to use them anyway."

Basuki said that the producer, suppliers and buyers were being investigated for possible graft, adding that he would seek to put those responsible for the purchase of the vehicles in prison. "All of them should be jailed as a lesson for others who think they can give wrecked goods to the Jakarta administration," he said.

Udar Pristono, the head of the Jakarta Transportation Agency, on the other hand, claimed that the procurement followed city regulations.

"We will sort this out, please don't generalize everything," he said, as quoted by Detik.com on Monday. "We had an open tender and the Chinese producer won it. "The buses can't be old. They were made per our requests."

He also said that the agency has only put down 20 percent of the total cost for the vehicles and replacements could be ordered. "We haven't paid in full, so do not worry, we can fix this," he said.

In the past few weeks, the Jakarta Administration has begun using 90 of the 310 newly bought buses and 18 of the 346 newly purchased BKTB buses. The administration paid Rp 3.7 billion ($303,400) for the vehicles.