Indonesian governor’s arrest in road project points to more tainted contracts
Indonesian anti-graft investigators last week arrested Nurdin Abdullah, the governor of South Sulawesi province, for alleged corruption in an upcoming road project in the province.
They have charged him with taking at least 2 billion rupiah ($140,000) in bribes to grant the contract to a local developer, and another 3.4 billion rupiah ($238,000) from other companies awarded other contracts.
Environmental activists are calling on the agency to expand the investigation to include other infrastructure projects approved by Nurdin.
Corruption in infrastructure projects is common in Indonesia, with local leaders like governors and district chiefs channeling the money back to their parties or using it to fund their re-election campaigns.