Palm Oil Rejuvenation Corruption Case, Former Head Of West Aceh Plantation Office Detained By Prosecutor's Office

Investigators are guarding two suspects in alleged corruption in the oil palm rejuvenation program at the Aceh Prosecutor's Office, Banda Aceh. BETWEEN/HO/Penkum Aceh Prosecutor's Office

Aceh High Prosecutor's Office Investigators have detained two suspects in the alleged corruption case of the people's oil palm rejuvenation program with a budget of more than Rp75.6 billion in West Aceh Regency. Daily Executive Head of the Legal Information and Public Relations Section of the Aceh Attorney General's Office, Deddy Taufik, said the two suspects detained were SM, former Head of the West Aceh Regency Plantation Service, and ZA, former Chairman of the Mandiri Manufacturer Cooperative Jaya Beusare. "The two suspects were detained at the Class II B Detention Center in Banda Aceh for the next 20 days. The reason for the detention was to prevent the two suspects from escaping, preventing the destruction or disappearance of evidence, and others regulated in the Criminal Procedure Code," said Deddy in Banda Aceh, Antara, Wednesday, June 21. Before being detained, investigators summoned and examined the two suspects. Examination to complete the case file. Detention is also to make it easier for investigators to carry out the next examination. The two suspects were charged primaryly with Article 2 Paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 which was amended into Law Number 20 of 2001 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Corruption in conjunction with Article 55 Paragraph (1) 1st of the Criminal Code. "The two suspects were also charged with subsidies under Article 3 in conjunction with Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999 as amended into Law Number 20 of 2001 in conjunction with Article 55 Paragraph (1) 1st of the Criminal Code," he said. Deddy explained the chronology of the case began when the Mandiri Jaya Beusare Producer Cooperative submitted a proposal for the oil palm rejuvenation program (PSR) in West Aceh Regency in 2017. Meanwhile, the number of farmers proposed was 1,207 people with an area of 2,831 hectares. "The PSR program is submitted to the Palm Oil Rejuvenation Fund Management Agency through the West Aceh Regency Plantation Service. The program is implemented in 10 stages in the 2018 to 2020 period with a total budget of more than IDR 75.6 billion," he said. However, based on an identification report from the Faculty of Agriculture, Syiah Kuala University using satellite imagery and field inspection of the Aceh Attorney General's Office, part of the land proposed to receive the PSR program is still in a forest condition and has never been planted with oil palm. "In fact, the requirements for obtaining PSR program funds are land with oil palm plants that are 25 years old and their productivity is below 10 tons per hectare. However, the reality of the land proposed is still a forest area," said Deddy. In addition to the forest, the land proposed is still in the bush, as well as vacant land that has not been planted. Then, the oil palm plantation land from the company's business use rights was also proposed as a recipient of the PSR program.

"As a result of the management of PSR funds that do not meet the requirements of the oil palm rejuvenation program, there is a potential loss to state finances that should be suspected of involving the two suspects," explained Deddy.