Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Being accused of espousing "public lies" has apparently offended Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso.
On Tuesday, he refuted a statement by the National Mandate Party (PAN) faction on the city's flood management during his accountability speech about the 2001 City Budget. "I really regret the statement saying that I have covered up the facts and lied in public," Sutiyoso said during the council's plenary session.
Responding to the council's general views on his accountability speech, Sutiyoso called on the faction to think clearly, saying that he had gone to great lengths last year to prevent the onset floods. "I have never washed my hands clean and run from my responsibility over my officials' weaknesses in the flood control program," he said.
Sutiyoso also denied abusing power by claiming that the administration has yet to sell the 10-hectare plot belonging to city-joint venture firm PT Jakarta International Trade Fair (JITF) in Kemayoran fair ground, Central Jakarta. The sale "was approved by the firm's board of commissioners – but it has yet to be implemented," the governor said.
City spokesman Muhayat earlier claimed that Sutiyoso had approved the land sale in his capacity as PT JITF's president commissioner. PT JITF is partly owned by the Jakarta City Fair Foundation, businessman Edward Suryajaya, and the Japanese Development Consortium. The 10-hectare land is part of PT JITF's 44-hectare land, which will be sold to Edward's property firm, PT Griya Nusa Pradana.
Even though Sutiyoso professed to being offended, PAN councillor Agus Dharmawan said that his faction insisted that Sutiyoso had publicly lied in his 2001 speech on budget accountability. "Many facts related to the floods were different from the governor's accountability speech," said Agus, a member of the Council Commission B for Economic Affairs. Agus also confirmed that PAN has evidence that Sutiyoso, as a governor, had approved the sale of the land in Kemayoran.
In his letter, in March 1999, Sutiyoso said that the land would be sold at US$300 per square meter, and the sale should be completed by February 2002.
Agus claimed that Sutiyoso has also violated a bylaw which banned him from becoming a president commissioner in the city's firms. "No matter his arguments, he was still president commissioner at some city firms last year," he said. He revealed that his faction would reject Sutiyoso's accountability.
Sutiyoso admitted to holding the position as the president commissioner at PT JITF, a city-owned market operator, PD Pasar Jaya, and city-owned PT Pembangunan Jaya. "But it was just an administrative matter that halted me from resigning from the companies. The process [of resigning] is still underway," he said.
All 85 councillors would decide their stance on April 26 – either to accept or reject the governor's accountability. If the second-largest PAN, which has 13 seats, insists on rejecting Sutiyoso's accountability, the governor's faith should be decided in a vote.
The largest Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction, which has 30 seats in council, will play a significant role in this vote. The faction is likely to accept Sutiyoso's accountability due to its weak stance against the governor.
The councillors and city officials will discuss the accountability speech at the city-owned resort Wisma Jaya Raya in Cipayung, Puncak, West Java.