KPK Find Out the Bidding Mechanism for Outsourcing Projects in Pekalongan Regency

DOK BETWEEN

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is finding out the mechanism for the bidding process or bidding projects in Pekalongan Regency, Central Java. This step is to investigate the alleged conditioning carried out by the non-active Regent of Pekalongan Fadia Arafiq.

KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo said that this investigation was carried out by examining 10 witnesses at the Pekalongan Police on Tuesday, April 21. Those who were asked for information were Wulan Windasari, Berlina Oveldha Novatandhera, Maulana Jafar Siddik, Gilang Wahyu Tama, and Emma Margyati, staff of PT Raja Nusantara Berjaya (RNB).

Then two deputy regent aides, Aji Setiawan and Dita Nismasari; a driver, Anton Siregar; Head of the General Sub-section of the Civil Registry Office, Megasari; and a notary, Welasih Widiastuti.

"The statements from the RNB party are being investigated, of course, about the bidding mechanism, yes, the mechanism for procuring goods and services. Whether it has followed the procurement process and procedures for goods and services, whether there are indeed conditioning-conditioning that are carried out, because indeed at the beginning we found there were allegations of intervention," Budi told reporters, quoted Wednesday, April 22.

In addition, Budi also explained that investigators were investigating the plotting of the placement of outsourcing employees. "Because it is also suspected that there are selections made by the Regent's party, yes, to appoint and place someone as an outsourcing employee in a number of these services," he said.

As previously reported, the KPK named the Regent of Pekalongan Fadia Arafiq as a suspect for allegedly arranging PT Raja Nusantara Berjaya (PT RNB) to monopoli outsourcing service projects in 17 regional devices, 3 RSUD, and 1 sub-district in Pekalongan Regency. He was caught in a hand-in-hand operation (OTT) on Tuesday, March 3.

PT RNB itself is known to have been founded by Fadia's husband and son, whose leadership was then handed over to his trusted employees.

In this case, the KPK suspects that the local government was forced to win PT RNB or the so-called "Parent Company". In fact, at the same time there were other vendors offering lower prices.

Throughout 2023 to 2026, there were transactions into PT RNB worth Rp. 46 billion sourced from contracts with regional devices in the Pekalongan Regency Government. Of that amount, Rp. 22 billion was used to pay the salaries of outsourcing employees.

Meanwhile, the rest or about 40 percent flowed into the pockets of Fadia, her husband and her children. Here are the details:

1. Fadia Arafiq as the Regent of Pekalongan enjoyed Rp5.5 billion; 2. Mukhtaruddin Ashraff Abu who is Fadia's husband enjoyed Rp1.1 billion. Ashraff is currently serving as a member of the Indonesian House of Representatives for the 2024-2029 period from the Golkar Party Faction who serves in Commission X. At PT RNB, he holds the position of commissioner. 3. Muhammad Sabiq Ashraff as the regent's son enjoys Rp4.6 billion; Sabiq is a member of the Pekalongan Regency DPRD from the Golkar Party Faction (Dapil V). He also served as Director of PT RNB for the 2022-2024 period. 4. Mehnaz NA as the regent's son enjoys Rp2.5 billion; 5. Rul Bayatun as the Director of PT RNB 2024-present/Person of Trust of the Regent: Enjoying Rp2.3 billion; and 6. Other cash withdrawals of Rp3 billion.

In this case, Fadia is suspected of violating Article 12 letter i and Article 12 B of the Corruption Eradication Law in conjunction with Article 127 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code regarding conflicts of interest and abuse of authority in the procurement of goods and services.