JAKARTA - Indonesian Audit Watch (IAW) asked law enforcement officials to fully uncover the alleged corruption in the procurement and fulfillment of coal supplies for a number of Steam Power Plants (PLTU) which are estimated to have caused state losses of up to Rp. 5 trillion. Disclosure of the case must not stop at the seizure of assets, searches, or the designation of suspects.
"The search is not a verdict. The items found are not automatically the result of a crime. The status of the suspect is not a guilty verdict. All of them still have to be tested in court," said the Founding Secretary of IAW, Iskandar Sitorus to reporters on Tuesday, July 14.
Iskandar said the alleged corruption in coal supplies was still in the early stages so that all allegations that had developed must be proven through the investigation and trial process.
He assessed that the authorities did not call enough for irregularities in coal governance throughout 2018-2026, but had to break the matter down into specific transactions.
Because the coal supply chain involves many parties, ranging from mining companies, suppliers, surveyors, transportation companies, PLTU managers, to officials who approve payments.
"Without a clear transaction map, the eight-year period and the Rp5 trillion figure will only sound big, but it is difficult to test," he said.
The alleged manipulation, continued Iskandar, must also be traced based on existing documents from the mining process to payment.
"If the manipulation is systematic, it is almost impossible for only one person to do it. The role of suppliers, surveyors, transporters, recipients, procurement officials, to officials who approve payments must be seen," he said.
Iskandar said investigators should not immediately conclude that any difference in the quality or volume of coal is a criminal act of corruption. According to him, changes in quality and volume can be influenced by technical factors such as weather, storage, transportation, and sampling methods.
Therefore, he said, a new criminal element can be built if investigators find evidence of intentional benefits to certain parties.
"Not all quality differences are automatically corruption. The quality of coal can change due to weather, storage, mixing process, transportation, or sampling methods. Not all volume differences mean fictitious because there is a shrinkage tolerance," he said.
Finally, Iskandar also highlighted the transfer of cases from the National Police to the Attorney General's Office (Kejagung) which must be carried out transparently. The success of uncovering cases is not measured by the number of locations that are searched or the amount of assets that are seized but rather by the ability of the police to build a chain of evidence in its entirety.
"The country needs the courage to dismantle coal corruption. But courage is not measured by the number of places that are searched. Courage is measured by the willingness to dismantle the entire chain, including if the trail leads to powerful people, powerful institutions, or parties that have been considered untouchable. In a legal state, courage must always take the form of evidence, not just press conferences," concluded Iskandar.
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