Ahok's questioning lasts 12 hours

JAKARTA. Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama's questioning by Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators lasted for 12 hours on Tuesday.

Ahok was questioned in relation to land procured by the Jakarta city administration in 2014 that according to the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) had caused potential state losses of Rp 199 billion (US$ 15,21 million).

Ahok said he had to answer around 50 questions from KPK investigators. “The questioning checked many things,” he told journalists, who had been waiting hours outside the KPK office to interview the governor.

A report on the city's Rp 755,69 billion purchase of this plot of land was included in a Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) audit of the Jakarta administration's 2014 financial report.

The BPK said the price had been inflated and the land should have been purchased for the same taxable value of property (NJOP) as surrounding buildings. The land, the agency report said, could have been bought for Rp 564,35 billion, which would have saved the city Rp 191 billion.

The land's NJOP that became the center of an alleged mark-up scandal, was part of the KPK's questions, said Ahok.

In response , Ahok said the NGOP was decided by a technical team at the Jakarta city administration. “My explanation (to the issue) is that the calculation was made by a technical team. We (I) only signed to make the decision,” Ahok said.

Ahok, however said that the investigators did not ask about a report that the land procured by the city was disputed by the Sumber Wars Foundation and Candra Naya Foundation. “What is being disputed is a different plot of land,” he added.

Speaking before the questioning ended, KPK chairman Agus Rahardja said that the investigators were crosschecking between the information given by Ahok and the BPK report. “We already have the BPK report. We need to crosscheck it,” he added.