House calls on Attorney General to continue investigating Balongan's case

The House of Representatives' Commission VIII for mines and energy called on Attorney General to continue investigations into the alleged mark-up of the cost of the refinery project in Balongan, West Java, Kompas daily reported.

The Commission also called on Attorney General to bar one of the key persons in the alleged scam, Erry P Oudang, the representative of Foster Wheeler in Indonesia, from going overseas to enable the investigation run smoothly. Oudang is the nephew of former first lady Tien Soeharto.

The Commission made the call on Wednesday during a hearing with key persons in the alleged scam, including Oudang, eldest son of former President Soeharto Sigit Hardjodjudanto, and Andreas Kho, former expert staff of the Technology Development and Assessment Body (BPPT).

Oudang and Sigit reportedly marked up the cost of the project by hundreds of million dollars and pressured Pertamina to approve the project during the negotiation in the early 1990s. The Balongan refinery has been in operation for about five years but it was repeatedly shut down due technical problems. Some analysts believe the refinery was built using substandard equipment.

During the hearing Sigit denied his involvement in the alleged corruption, saying he took no active role during the project's negotiation.

"I only gave opinions," Sigit said, adding Oudang had once asked him to arrange a meeting with then President Soeharto but he turned down the request.

Sigit said he did not receive any fee from Oudang for his help, but admitted that Oudang had "treated" him.

Oudang denied that the cost of the project had been marked up.

Kho, who was then assigned to assess the project, said the refinery was built with prime equipment and technology but it was later broken due to the inability of Pertamina's staff to operate it. (*)