Sorry His Subordinates Were Entangled In Corruption In The Rail Project, Minister Of Transportation Promises To Increase Supervision

Minister of Transportation (Menhub) Budi Karya Sumadi supports the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to resolve cases of alleged corruption in rail construction and repair projects in Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi.

"We apologize for this incident and will fully submit the legal process to the authorities. We are ready to cooperate and support the KPK and other related parties to resolve this case," said the Minister of Transportation in an official statement, Thursday, April 13, quoted by Antara.

The Minister of Transportation emphasized that he would not tolerate actions that were contrary to efforts to eradicate corruption and would take firm action against his staff in the event of a violation.

"We are committed to helping eradicate corruption, especially within the Ministry of Transportation by continuing to remind all levels regarding good integrity and governance and increasing supervision by related functions," said the Minister of Transportation.

For this incident, he said, the Ministry of Transportation would later conduct an audit to ensure that the projects indicated still meet the requirements for safety and feasibility of operation.

"We will also increase supervision of the implementation of other infrastructure projects and ensure their quality to ensure transportation safety," he said.

Previously, the KPK had named 10 suspects in the alleged bribery case by state officials within the Directorate General of Railways (DJKA) of the Ministry of Transportation related to the construction of railway lines in South Sulawesi, Central Java, West Java, and Java-Sumatra areas for the 2018-2022 Fiscal Year.

The four parties suspected of giving bribes, namely the Director of PT IPA (Istana Putra Agung) Dion Renato Sugiarto (DIN), Director of PT DF (Dwifarita Fajarkharisma) Muchamad Hikmat (MUH), Director of PT KA Property Management until February 2023 Yoseph Ibrahim (YOS), and VP of PT KA Management Properti Parjono (PAR).

Meanwhile, six other suspects were suspected of receiving bribes, namely the Director of Railway Infrastructure Harno Trimadi (HNO), Head of the Central Java Railway Engineering Center (BTP) Putu Sumarjaya, Commitment Making Officer (PPK) BTP Central Java Bernard Hasibuan (BEN), PPK BPKA South Sulawesi Achmad Affandi (AFF), PPK Fadliansyah Railway Infrastructure (FAD), and PPK BTP West Java Synto Pirjani Hutabarat (SYN).

The alleged criminal act of corruption in the construction and repair of the railroad is suspected to have occurred in the 2021-2022 Fiscal Year in the project, namely the Solo Balapan-Kadipiro-Kalioso double train line construction project, the railway line construction project in Makassar, South Sulawesi, four railway construction projects and two supervision projects in Lampegan Cianjur, West Java, as well as the project to improve the crossover in Java-Sumatra sector.

"In the construction and maintenance of the project, it is suspected that there has been a regulation of the winner of the project implementing by certain parties through engineering from the administrative process to determining the winner of the tender," said KPK Deputy Chair Johanis Tanak during a press conference at the KPK Building, Jakarta, Thursday morning.

In the arrest operation (OTT) of the case, the KPK also secured evidence in the form of IDR 2.823 billion, consisting of IDR 2.027 billion in cash and 20,000 US dollars, a debit card worth IDR 346 million and a bank account balance of IDR 150 million.