File photo of residents and a search and rescue team member looking under the ruins of a mosque in Pemenang, North Lombok, on Aug 6, 2018, the day after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck the area. - AFP
JAKARTA: Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators have arrested two suspects in connection with a corruption case related to the construction of a tsunami shelter near Bangsal Port in North Lombok regency, West Nusa Tenggara, in 2014.
The KPK declared that the alleged corruption resulted in Rp 18.4 billion (US$ 1.14 million) in financial losses.
The two suspects are project commitment maker (PPK) head Aprialely Nirmala (AN) and former PT Waskita Karya project manager Agus Herijanto (AH).
"The two suspects, AN and AH, have been detained for 20 days, from Monday to Jan 18," said KPK investigations director Asep Guntur Rahayu at the KPK Red and White Building in Jakarta on Monday, as reported by Antara.
Asep said that in 2012, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) developed a tsunami risk reduction plan that included plans for the construction of shelters.
The plan specified that the tsunami evacuation shelters should be resistant to earthquakes of a magnitude of up to 9 on the Richter scale and granted a budget of Rp 23.2 billion for the project.
However, in the construction, the suspect AN allegedly lowered the specifications without conducting the required studies or receiving authorisation and pocketed the difference in funds.
The downgrades included eliminating concrete beams to secure each column at the height of 5m. The original design had beams connecting and strengthening every column in the building. In the realised design, beams were placed only on the outer columns.
The number of steel reinforcement bars was also lowered from 48 in the original design to just 40, and the concrete quality was downgraded from K-275 to K-225.
The KPK has alleged that AH and AN were aware of the numerous deficiencies in the work reference documents but neglected to remedy the issue.
"Actually, they were aware of the many deficiencies in the auction documents that served as work reference, but until November 2014, no action was taken to make improvements," Asep said, as quoted by kompas.com.
In addition, the KPK suspects that AH also embezzled some Rp 1.3 billion of the project’s funds. After two earthquakes on Jul 29 and Aug 5, 2018, of magnitudes of 6.4 and 7.0, respectively, the shelter was severely damaged, rendering it unsuitable for use as a refuge.
An assessment by an expert team from the Bandung Institute of Technology also found that the shelter's structure failed during the disaster, making it unusable. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
