The Ethical Lawyers Association & Corruption Prevention and Anti-Corruption (SPECTRA) has officially reported alleged criminal acts of corruption in the Otto Iskandardinata (Otista) Bridge revitalization project in Bogor City to the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic of Indonesia. The report was submitted as a step to encourage transparent, professional law enforcement, free from political interests.
The Chairman of SPECTRA said that his party found a number of initial indications of irregularities in the use of the project budget, which is worth hundreds of billions of rupiah, starting from land acquisition to the construction process.
“The Otista project is a strategic project that has a direct impact on the community. Therefore, any alleged irregularities, no matter how small, must be dealt with. We believe that the Attorney General’s Office has stronger independence and authority to handle this case objectively,” he said in an official statement.
According to SPECTRA, there are four main reasons for the report. First, allegations of non-transparency and potential procedural violations in the land acquisition stage since 2020 using the Bogor City Regional Budget. This stage is said to have caused complaints from affected residents.
Second, the revitalization project is considered to touch areas that have historical and cultural value, so special attention is needed to the aspect of cultural heritage protection. Third, SPECTRA highlighted alleged irregularities in the tender process, including the involvement of companies that had previously been blacklisted but won large contracts again.
Fourth, SPECTRA believes that supervision by central law enforcement agencies is needed to ensure that the investigation process is not influenced by local political dynamics, especially ahead of the Regional Elections in Bogor City.
The anti-corruption institution emphasized that the report submitted was not intended to attack certain parties, but to ensure that the use of state money runs according to the principles of accountability.
“All officials, both those currently serving and those who have served, must not be immune from the legal process. The public has the right to know where state money is allocated and whether it is used correctly,” he continued.
Through its release, SPECTRA conveyed four demands to the Attorney General’s Office: to follow up on reports of alleged corruption, to conduct investigations from the land acquisition stage to construction, to examine all related parties without exception of position, and to open up developments in handling the case transparently to the public.
SPECTRA hopes that the Attorney General’s Office will immediately take investigative steps so that the polemic related to the Otista project does not cause speculation in the community.
Until this news was written, the Bogor City Government and the project organizers had not provided an official response to the report.
