Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Andi Amran Sulaiman took firm action by firing a staff member who claimed to be a director general (dirjen) at his ministry and extorted hundreds of millions of rupiah from farmers to obtain assistance for agricultural tools and machinery (alsintan).
Amran, in a press conference in Jakarta on Friday, said the decision was very difficult for him personally because he was used to serving and helping the community, but for the sake of the country, all irregularities must be dealt with because the ministry's facilities come from the people's taxes.
"'Report Mr. Amran' paid for the tractors. ' Every time a farmer took a tractor, the staff member demanded payment. Even though they were free for the people, there were Ministry of Agriculture employees who were dismissed. What can you do?" Amran said.
He said that based on public reports, the ministry uncovered levies ranging from Rp 50 million to Rp 600 million for each agricultural machinery pickup in various regions. The ministry took action in response to these incidents, and all files were immediately submitted to the police for a thorough investigation.
"Follow up immediately, if necessary, bring it in and examine it today. And Mr. Secretary General, dismiss the ministry's staff. No way. I've already told you not to mess around. If I get it, I'll definitely fire them. No way," Amran asserted.
He emphasized that the practice of extortion against farmers is inhumane because they already live with various difficulties, so the state is obliged to be present to ensure that assistance is provided free of charge without any charges.
In addition to internal elements, Amran said there were external parties who also defrauded farmers and asked the police to immediately pursue them because their actions were detrimental to the state and hampered the national aid program.
"And the perpetrator is from the Ministry of Agriculture alone. There are more from outside. And I'm dismissing (the one from the Ministry of Agriculture) today," he said.
Amran revealed that of at least 99 identified locations, each involved multiple recipients. Therefore, the potential for losses is significant and requires swift action through evidence-based investigation and further investigation.
