Jakarta Globe, Mar 12, 2014
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| A housing complex is being completed in the Greater Jakarta area. (JG Photo/Safir Makki) |
The Public
Housing Ministry has come under the public glare as officials in East Nusa
Tenggara investigate the possible embezzlement of funds allocated for the
construction of houses for low-income residents in nine districts there.
Mangihut
Sinaga, the chief judge of the East Nusa Tenggara High Court, said on Wednesday
that his office had launched in inquiry into the allegation that as much as Rp
1 trillion ($88 million) had been embezzled from the fund between 2011 and
2013.
Mangihut
called the case “interesting,” citing a number of irregularities that his
office had uncovered in the building project, starting from the specification
of the houses, to the timeline for the project, up to the use of funds for the
project.
He said the
funds alleged to have been embezzled covered the construction of new housing as
well as other aid programs that were connected to the housing project.
“Aside from
the partners and the managers of those funds, anyone in the Public Housing
Ministry who is involved will be investigated, because the funds came from the
ministry,” Mangihut said.
Court
investigators will also be looking at the individuals responsible for the
implementation of the project, with Mangihut noting that the ministry typically
appointed a working unit that would have the authority over the use of funds in
the region.
The court
has reportedly investigated Felix Soba, the head of Ngada district, who
confirmed that there was an inquiry under way into the housing project.
Felix said
that under the project, 300 homes were to be built in Ngada, although only 150
units had to date been built.
“As for
other issues, I cannot explain in detail because we have been questioned by the
prosecutor,” he said, adding that the questioning had focused on information
about the progress of the throughout the three-year period.
The court
said it was also expanding its investigations to eight other districts and
their top officials, including Kupang district and Kupang municipality, South
Timor Tengah district, North Timor Tengah district, Belu district, East Flores
district, Alor district and Central Sumba district.
The Atambua
High Court in Belu is also gathering information about the public housing
project in Belu and Malaka districts in 2012, according to a report on Wednesday
by Tribunnews.com. The court is reportedly targeting 57 contractors involved in
the project as part of its investigation.
Roberthus
Takoy, the chief judge, said on Tuesday that investigators had questioned
dozens of witnesses linked to the case and had decided to pursue a full
criminal investigation.
“We are now
focusing on the contractors handling the supply and installation of
energy-saving lights and low-voltage electricity for the five villages of
Saenama, Wesey, Faturika, Bisesmus and Rinbesihat,” Roberthus said, referring
to the two of the programs that were part of the wider housing project.
Tribunnews.com
reported that the condition of the houses that had already been built in
Haliwen ward in Kupang, the provincial capital, were very poor, with most of
them consisting of rusty iron frames, while others were only half-built.
Similar
conditions were reportedly found in Fatubenao and Manumutin wards, where only
the frames of the houses have been built, most of which have also started
rusting due to the rainy season.
“The frames
were built in August 2013,” said Yosep, a resident.
“Back then,
they came unloading sand three times, without cement. Those working on the
project even asked for our old houses to be demolished for them to be able to
build new ones, but we refused.”
East Nusa
Tenggara is not the only region suffering from the alleged misuse of funds in
the government’s regional housing projects.
Last month,
the West Kalimantan High Court detained two corruption suspects contracted by
the Public Housing Ministry — Tri Eddy Nuryanto, the managing director of
builder Pilar Persada, and Eko Wahyudo, an official from the company’s branch
in Pontianak, the West Kalimantan capital, Inilah.com reported.
The two men
were arrested on charges of alleged graft in the construction of special
housing in Bengkayang district, which was included in the Public Housing
Ministry’s 2012 budget.
The
government has reportedly disbursed 100 percent of the Rp 6.7 trillion contract
for the construction of 100 homes there, out of which only 66 were built.
In East
Java, the Pamekasan High Court is also reportedly looking into alleged
embezzlement of funds for a similar project targeted for some 313 low-income
households in the region.
Each
household reportedly received just Rp 3.5 million of the Rp 7.4 million worth
of aid allocated to them by the Public Housing Ministry.
Earlier
this year, Firdaus Djaelani, the executive chief for non-banking financial
industry monitoring at the Financial Services Authority (OJK), said Indonesia’s
need for housing stood at approximately 800,000 units annually, adding that the
government still had a backlog of 15 million housing units.
The number
of houses built using the Housing Finance Liquidity Facility (FLPP) — a
mortgage program subsidized by the ministry to help low- and middle-income
families own homes — stood at 87,765 units, or 72.5 percent of the targeted
121,000 units for 2013.
Efforts to
provide more affordable housing units for low-income families also remain
hampered, with the public housing savings bill, which is meant to offer an
alternative and more affordable funding scheme, still being deliberated at the
House of Representatives, despite Public Housing Ministry Djan Faridz declaring
late last year that it would be passed by January.
In a report
by Kompas.com, Panangian Simanungkalit, the executive director of the
Indonesian Center of Property Studies, deplored the lack of coordination by the
ministry in organizing its programs.
“The public
housing savings bill is actually very vital because it has the potential to
expand [Indonesia’s] capacity in funding the construction of public housing.
The capacity of the FLPP has the potential to grow. If it isn’t ratified,
Indonesia’s housing deficit will only grow,” he said as quoted by Kompas.com.
“The Public
Housing Ministry is very weak in its coordination, not just with the House of
Representatives but also with other ministries. The Public Housing Ministry is
taken lightly, so it doesn’t have the government’s strong support.”
Although
some supported the postponement of the bill’s passage, Panangian said the move
could worsen the public’s negative perception of the government.
“The public
will continue to remain apathetic and will always be negative toward housing
policies and programs,” he said.
Speaking at
the Public Housing National Assembly last month February, public policy expert
Andrinof Chaniago dubbed the government’s public housing policy an “anomaly.”
“This
anomaly in housing developments and policies is very clear,” he said.
He cited
public housing policies in Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea, which he said
were much clearer compared to that of Indonesia, where the government’s
policies had failed to improve the welfare of the people.
“Landed
homes predominate [in Indonesia], but how does this impact the people’s
welfare?” he said.
“The cost
of living is very high and the existing mechanism forces people to live out in
the suburbs as they are haunted by the illusion that land prices will be much
cheaper in those areas.”
Andrinof
said that in a country as densely populated as Indonesia, the government should
build more apartment blocks for its people, which could also put the brakes on
rising land prices.
“We have to
realize that our problem is in adopting the wrong paradigm from the 1980s up
until now,” he said.
“Otherwise,
our backlog will continue to grow.”
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