Part 8/16:
Investigations by Indonesia’s anti-corruption commission, KPK, uncovered a land acquisition mafia that had bought and sold parcels at markups of up to 1,000%, sometimes involving state-owned lands. These illicit deals enriched insiders and left the government paying inflated prices for property, some of which it already owned.
The scandals culminated in a criminal investigation focused on inflated construction costs, with one former minister questioning why the line’s cost per mile was three times what China paid for similar projects. Allegations of corrupt contracts and profiteering cast a shadow over the entire endeavor, raising questions about governance and oversight.