[Kabar-indonesia] Aceh relief agency admits possibility of misusing funds

[Joyo at aol.com]

Xinhua 
September 1, 2006

Indonesia's relief agency admits possibility of misusing funds

Indonesia's relief agency for the tsunami-hit province of Aceh admitted 
Thursday that there is a possibility it misused donors' funds.

Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, head of the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency, 
said that the case may occur due to the emergency situation the agency 
operated.

"There had been a breach that may lead to the problem (corruption)," he said.

Last week, the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) accused the agency of making 
a 239,6000 U.S. dollars irregularity during its operation of supplying books, 
office kits, direct appointments of contractors and destroying expired 
medicine.

Recently, two staff of the agency had been investigated by the prosecutors in 
the case.

Kuntoro said that the agency, which has its own anti-corruption unit, is now 
conducting internally investigation to examine the accusation of the ICW.

"Now, investigations are being carried out on some of our staff, " he said 
after meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla at the vice presidential office.

"We reported to the vice president that we would not ignore the allegation, 
and to carry out a serious investigation on the case," Kuntoro said.

The Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency for Aceh province and Nias 
island in North Sumatra province, was established on April 16, 2005 with the 
mission of coordinating the ongoing reconstruction efforts in the affected areas, 
and to ensure that donor funds are used effectively, transparently and quickly 
to meet the needs of the Acehnese and Nianese people in North Sumatra province.

The agency, so far, has been managing over 4.8 out of 7.1 billion U.S. 
dollars of donor pledged for the four-year relief efforts in the restive Aceh 
province.

The tidal waves triggered by tsunami killed more than 160,000 people in Aceh 
province and destroyed coastal areas of the province in the northwest tip of 
Sumatra island. The tragedy was then followed by a powerful quake that struck 
Nias island.

The Acehnese have enjoyed peace since the Indonesian government and the 
rebels signed peace pact on Aug. 15 in Helsinki, Finland to end the three-decade 
long bloody conflict, which killed over 15, 000 of lives, almost all of them 
were civilians.

------------------------------------------ 
Joyo Indonesia News Service
------------------------------------------