Ladia Galaska Revisited
GOVERNOR Abdullah Puteh was on the front pages of newspapers for weeks in recent months, linking him to corruption in the scandalous purchase of a helicopter and a power generator for the Aceh provincial administration. The Corruption Eradication Commission has named him a suspect in the case. Now the governor is back in the news with reports of his involvement in the Ladia Galaska projectthe controversial construction of a road that cuts across the Leuser Ecosystem Zone in Central Aceh. The project has spent Rp250 billion of the total Rp950 billion allocated under the National Budget. Non-governmental organizations charge Rp26.9 billion of the expenditure has not been properly accounted for. TEMPO traces the ins and outs of the controversy and the impact of the project on the environment.
August 24, 2004
THE door to the examination room of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) finally opened at 8:30pm. A man in an elegant dark suit appeared from behind the door smiling sheepishly. Reporters who had been waiting for hours outside rushed toward the man, Governor of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, Abdullah Puteh, only to be blocked by bodyguards who accompanied the provincial chief all the way to his waiting car. With the governor safely seated insi
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