Establishment of “Fictitious” Villages under Investigation

KOMPAS/KELVIN HIANUSA

A bulldozer stands idle on a tract of cleared land on the perimeter of Lerehoma village in Konawe regency, Southeast Sulawesi, one of 56 villages that were established under a fictitious law. The village, which is a beneficiary of the village funds, stands on 15,000 hectares amidst oil palm plantations.

The establishment of new villages in Konawe regency allegedly based on fictitious data is not only a form of administrative violation but could also be a crime.

KONAWE, KOMPAS — The formation of a village using a fictitious regional regulation in Konawe regency, Southeast Sulawesi, was allegedly intended to siphon the village funds allocated by the central government in the state budget.

The Southeast Sulawesi Regional Police together with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) are investigating the state losses in the alleged fraud.

Investigative reporting conducted by Kompas daily revealed that senior government officials and legislators in the regency had allegedly worked together to form new villages with fictitious data.

Kompas recently met the former head of the administrative bureau of the Konawe regency administration, Jumrin Pagala, at one of detention centers in Southeast Sulawesi at the end of November to ask him about the alleged fraud. He said the plan to set up new villages was arranged during a meeting at a farm owned by Konawe Regent Kery Saiful Konggoasa.

According to Jumrin, in mid-2014, at Kery\'s farm in Amonggedo Baru village, Amonggedo district, he received an order to find area codes for the newly established villages. A letter listing 52 villages was then sent to the Administrative Bureau of the Southeast Sulawesi provincial government in April 2015 for approval. However, the proposal was turned down because 34 villages on the list did not meet the requirements and the other 18 villages were not registered.

KOMPAS/KELVIN HIANUSA

A resident sits in the doorway of his stilt house in Lerehoma village of Konawe regency, Southeast Sulawesi. Lerehoma is one of 56 beneficiaries of the village funds that were established under a fictitious law.

The establishment of the villages submitted to the Southeast Sulawesi provincial government was also not based a local regulation, which should be issued as the requirement in forming new villages and in obtaining their area codes.

After being rejected, the regent asked Jumrin to make a factious regulation for the establishment of the 52 villages. Later, the regulation, Regional Regulation No. 7/2011, was problematic because it carried a backdate. In the regulation, he added two more villages to the list so that the number of villages proposed for improvement increased to 56.

Under the instruction

When drafting the fake regional regulation called Perda, Jumrin was instructed by the then-chairman of the local Konawe Legislative Council (DPRD) Gusli Topan Sabara and a DPRD member, Ardin.

“Obviously the inclusion of the villages in the regulation was ordered by local leaders including Mr. Ardin, [currently the chairman of the DPRD of Konawe], and Mr. Gusli. They even came to my office asking me to include new villages [in the regulation]," said Jumrin.

According to Jumrin, some villages could not actually be proposed because their population did not meet the minimum requirement to be categorized as a village. However, in order for the villages to meet the requirement, their data, including on population, was manipulated.

For example, the population of Lerehoma village in Anggaberi district was marked up from only 65 families or 200 people to 190 families or 1,077 people.

The population of the proposed villages recorded at the Konawe regency population and civil registry service (Dukcapil) was also different from those stipulated in a local regulation, No. 7/2011.

Based on data of the Dukcapil office as of Nov.7, 2019, Wiau village in Routa district is inhabited by seven families and Napooha village in Latoma district is inhabited by 30 families or 123 people. However, in Regulation No. 7/2011, the population of Wiau village states 192 families or 1,070 people while Napooha village supposedly had a population of 188 families or 1,077 inhabitants.

The regional police spokesman, Commissioner Harry Goldenhardt, said that the police were focusing on the investigation on alleged state losses from the case.

The Southeast Sulawesi regional police are currently researching documents about the formation of villages in Konawe. The regional police spokesman, Commissioner Harry Goldenhardt, said that the police were focusing on the investigation on alleged state losses from the case. "Investigators are focusing on the alleged existence of fictitious villages and misuse of state finances," he said.

Argument

Ardin denied involvement in drafting the fictitious regulation, No. 7/2011. He said he did not know anything about the regulation. "What are my vested interests in drafting regulation? If the regulation is proposed and discussed, it would not be passed,” Ardin said.

Gusli, who is now the deputy regent of Konawe, said he was not aware of the existence of Regulation No. 7/2011 on the establishment of the 56 villages.

During his time in the local legislative council, he only legalized two regional regulations on the establishment of villages, namely regional regulations No. 2/2011 and No. 1/2014. "In the DPRD record, there is no Regional Regulation No. 7/2011. I cannot comment on the matter. It could be wrong," he said.

KOMPAS/KELVIN HIANUSA

A concrete marker stands at the entrance of Arombu Utama village in Konawe regency, Southeast Sulawesi. Arombu Utama is one of 56 beneficiaries of the village funds that were established under a fictitious law.

Regarding the alleged conspiracy to create a fictitious regional regulation to form new villages, the chairman of the Village Fund Task Force at the Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Ministry, Bibit Samad Rianto, said that what happened in Konawe was a form of a conspiracy of the local officials to siphon hundreds of millions of rupiah of state funds allocated for a village.

Andalas University constitutional law teacher, Feri Amsari, said the issuance of a fictitious regulation allegedly involving local government officials and legislators was not just an administrative violation but could also be categorized as a crime.

"The manipulation of the government documents is criminal. Further investigation is needed. What is the real purpose of the manipulation? Was it made to siphon village funds? The culprit can also be charged with other offences such as corruption, if elements of embezzlement of the village funds is found," he said. (KEL/BKY/ILO/JAL)