Jakarta – The Jakarta Police has questioned the Environment and Forestry Minister in the latest development in their investigation of the controversial Jakarta Bay reclamation project, following their earlier questioning of two other Cabinet ministers.
Jakarta Police special crimes chief Sr. Comr. Adi Deriyan said on Wednesday that the police had questioned Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya recently.
"We have questioned [Siti Nurbaya]," Adi said as reported by Antara news agency, but he did not provide further details.
Last month, the police questioned Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan and Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti, along with other high-ranking officials.
While interrogating Luhut, the police asked the coordinating minister to clarify his decision to lift the moratorium on the project.
The multi-trillion rupiah project has sparked controversy among the public as well as state officials, with the police investigating alleged corruption in the project after discovering "irregularities" in the sale of the reclaimed islets.
Antara reported that the taxable property value (NJOP) for Islet C and Islet D was set at Rp 3.1 million (US$230) per square meter, while the land was being sold for more than Rp 25 million per square meter.
The NJOP was calculated on the independent assessment of public auditors (KJPP) as mandated by Law No. 28/2009 on regional taxation and levies and Bylaw No.16/2011 on land and building tax in rural and urban areas.
Adi said that the special crimes division planned to question more government officials.
Separately, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan recently reiterated his campaign promise to stop the project, arguing that it would only benefit certain groups. (fac)