Acting Governor Of NTB Then Gita Ariadi Was Questioned By The KPK Regarding PT Tukad Mas' Business Permit

Acting Governor of NTB Lalu Gita Ariadi at the KPK's Red and White Building, Kuningan, Jakarta, Tuesday 21 November. (Tsa Tsia-VOI)

Acting Governor of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Lalu Gita Ariadi has been questioned by investigators from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) today, Tuesday, November 21. He admitted that he was questioned about the issuance of a mining business permit (IUP) of PT Tukad Mas General Constructionor.

It is known that Gita was summoned as a witness in the bribery case that ensnared the inactive Bima Mayor Muhammad Lutfi. He finally complied with the summons of investigators at the KPK's Red and White Building, Kuningan Persada.

"The question is related to the substance of the process of issuing permits from the special operations mining business permit of PT Tukad Mas. At that time I was the Head of the DPMPTSP Office of West Nusa Tenggara Province, licensing. We usually confirm the completeness of the requirements in the permit issuance process," Gita told reporters after being questioned, Tuesday, November 21.

Even so, Gita claimed that the permit he issued was in accordance with the rules. "There is an SOP there that we issued the permit after technical considerations from the service and we did it according to the SOP," he said.

"(So, red) is safe. In accordance with the SOP. There are technical considerations from the technical office, namely the Department of Energy and Mineral Resources," he continued.

Gita said the mining permit for PT Tukad Mas General Constructionor had been issued since October 2, 2019 by the DPMPTSP Office. However, he claimed he did not know the continuation because he immediately served as the Regional Secretary of West Nusa Tenggara Province.

"So after the permit was issued, I did not follow the progress," he said.

Furthermore, during the examination, Gita admitted that she was asked 15 questions. Everything is claimed to have been answered according to her knowledge.

Meanwhile, regarding the giving of money, Gita did not want to answer for sure. "Wallahualam," he said briefly.

As previously reported, Lutfi has been detained at the KPK detention center. He is a suspect in alleged corruption in the procurement of goods and services in the Bima City Government.

He is suspected of disclosing the project that the Bima City Government will work on with his family. The trick, he initially asked for documents from a number of projects at the Bima City Government Public Works and Spatial Planning Agency (PUPR) and Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD).

Then Lutfi ordered a number of officials at the PUPR and BPBD offices to develop various projects with a large budget value. The preparation was carried out at his official residence.

The PUPR and BPBD Bima offices then determined the value of the project with tens of billions of rupiah for the 2019-2020 fiscal year. From there, Lutfi appointed contractors who were ready to win to work on the project.

The project begins with an auction. However, recently this process was just a formality considering that the winner did not meet the requirements.