KPK grills Forestry Minister over bribery scandal

JAKARTA. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) questioned on Tuesday Forestry Minister and National Mandate Party (PAN) politician Zulkifli Hasan for his alleged role in the bribery scandal surrounding the decision to turn 3,000 hectares of protected forest in Bogor, West Java, into a commercial housing project.

Zulkifli was questioned as a witness for a suspect in the case, Francis Xaverius Yohan, an executive of construction company PT Bumi Jonggol Asri (BJA), whose 65 percent share was controlled by PT Sentul City.

Francis was arrested for allegedly giving a Rp 1.5 billion (US$125.111) bribe to Bogor Regent Rahmat Yasin, in order to get a recommendation for the permit. Rahmat has also been named a suspect in the case.

In order to obtain the permit, the BJA was required to send a proposal to the ministry along with the recommendation issued by Rahmat’s office.

KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto said that the antigraft body grilled Zulkifli to clarify his role in the issuance of the permit. “The probe was to clarify about the permit recommendation,” Bambang told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Speaking after five hours of questioning at KPK headquarters, Zulkifli denied that his office had issued a permit for the BJA. “The truth is the company has recently submitted its proposal to the ministry, but we haven’t issued any recommendation yet,” he said.

When asked if the ministry would approve the BJA’s proposal, Zulkifli, who has served in his role since 2009, declined to comment.

Zulkifli’s predecessor M. Prakosa, who served as forestry minister from 2001-2004, was previously questioned by the KPK on June 16 as a witness in the case.

Prakosa, an Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician, said that during his tenure he rejected the proposal from the BJA, but his successors — Islam-based Crescent Star Party (PBB) politician MS Kaban, who led the Ministry from 2004-2009, and Zulkifli — later gave the green light to the company’s proposal.

Zulkifli also declined to respond to Prakosa’s claim that the ministry approved the BJA’s proposal in 2004. “You can ask the KPK investigators about it,” Zulkifli said.

In relation to the graft case, the KPK has slapped travel bans on a number of people linked to the case, including PT Sentul City Tbk president director Cahyadi Kumala, Daniel Otto Kumala, who is reportedly Cahyadi’s son, as well as three people whose identities the KPK did not disclose, named only as Ardani, Suwito and Lusiana Herdin.

Rahmat, a senior United Development Party (PPP) member, reportedly agreed to be a broker in order to coax officials at the ministry to approve his recommendation on the issuance of a permit to change the status of the protected land because he received a massive amount of the bribe paid by the BJA.

The protected area, where the BJA allegedly plans to build luxury housing complexes, covers area in two regencies — Bogor and Cianjur.

In the past few days, Zulkifli has become the subject of ridicule after a video showed him engaging in a heated conversation with Hollywood actor Harrison Ford, who challenged the minister over the destruction of the Tesso Nilo National Park in Riau.

The footage was from Years of Living Dangerously, a documentary series about climate change that is set to be broadcast next year on the US TV network Showtime.

The series will feature a range of stars including Matt Damon, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ian Somerhalder. In the video, Ford lost his cool after getting vague answers from Zulkifli on why the destruction occurred.

Ford was visibly furious upon hearing that Zulkifli blamed democracy for the forest’s destruction.

“One thing that you have to know is that we are in the early stages of democracy, but we are sure that we will achieve balance in the long term in our forest.” (Haeril Halim)