Mendes PDTT Claims Not To Participate In Enjoying Bribery Of Grant Funds For The East Java Provincial Government After Being Examined By The KPK

Mendes PDTT Abdul Halim Iskandar at the KPK's Red and White Building, Kuningan Persada, Jakarta, Thursday, August 22. (Diah-VOI)

JAKARTA - Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration of the Republic of Indonesia (Mendes PDTT) Abdul Halim Iskandar claims to have never enjoyed bribes from the East Java Provincial Government (Pemrov) grant. Halim conveyed this after undergoing examination today, Thursday, August 22. He was examined as a witness in the bribery case for grants from community groups (pokmas) from the East Java Provincial Government Budget "No, never (accept bribes related to grant funds, ed)," said Abdul Halim to reporters at the KPK's Red and White Building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta. Abdul Halim admitted that investigators had asked dozens of questions. Meanwhile, regarding his capacity when examined as a witness, the brother of the General Chair of the National Awakening Party (PKB) did not want to talk further. It is known that Abdul Halim served as Chairman of the East Java DPRD for the 2014 to 2019 period. He later served as Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration in the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet on October 23, 2019. He only said that his examination was related to matters in East Java. “ You can have time for the chairman of the DPRD, after that, all kinds of things, ” he said. Previously reported, the KPK has named 21 new suspects in the alleged bribery of grant funds for community groups or pokmas from the East Java Provincial Budget for the 2019-2022 Fiscal Year. This effort is the development of the case that ensnared the former Deputy Chairperson of the East Java DPRD, Sahat Tua P. Simanjuntak. Investigators in this case have searched the office of the East Java Provincial Government (Jatim) some time ago. As a result, documents and electronic goods have been confiscated regarding the alleged bribery case of grant funds.