At The Court, The Secretary General Of The Ministry Of Social Affairs Said That Juliari's Coal Rental Was Made From A Grant

JAKARTA - Secretary General of the Ministry of Social Affairs Hartono said that Juliari Batubara's official travel costs to a number of areas by renting a private jet are financed from grant funds.

"The source of aircraft charter fees related to disaster locations and small islands and underdeveloped areas is possible from domestic grant funding sources," Hartono said at the Jakarta Corruption Crime Court (Tipikor), reported by Antara, Wednesday, May 5.

Hartono became a witness for the defendant, former Social Minister Juliari Batubara, who was charged with accepting bribes of IDR 32.482 billion from 109 companies providing social assistance for COVID-19.

"The source of the grants is public donations from free lottery prizes managed by the Directorate General of Social Empowerment of the Ministry of Social Affairs," added Hartono.

Hartono said the plane rental by Juliari Batubara's entourage was carried out to go to North Luwuk and Natuna.

"But I don't know how much the plane rental costs, only to Natuna and North Luwuk using domestic grants," said Hartono.

According to Hartono, these domestic grants have also been supervised by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) and the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP).

"The nomenclature of the grant funds has been determined by the Ministry of Finance. The previous name was social welfare funds, then there were public donations from the free lottery prizes and pengelonya based on the Minister of Social Affairs Regulation No. 8 of 2019 and supervised by the BPK and BPKP," explained Hartono.

However, because Juliari went to various regions due to disasters under the Directorate General of Social Protection (Linjamsos), the Directorate General of Social Protection will issue a check to manage domestic grants.

"Disbursement by check by the Directorate General of Social Security," added Hartono.

The indictment states that "fees" from companies providing COVID-19 basic food assistance were used for a number of Juliari Batubara's needs, including payments for private aircraft, namely:

1. Payment for rented planes (private jet) for Juliar's work visit activities as Minister of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Social Affairs' entourage to Lampung amounting to IDR 270 million

2. Payment for Juliari's plane (private jet) and the Ministry of Social Affairs' entourage on a working visit to Denpasar Bali amounting to IDR 270 million

3. Payment for Juliari's private jet and the Ministry of Social Affairs' entourage during a working visit to Semarang amounting to 18 thousand US dollars