Megawati richest Indonesian official

Megawati's fortune was partly inherited, partly from a gas station business, jointly owned with her husband

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A committee auditing the wealth of Indonesia's state officials has ranked Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri as the richest of them all.

Megawati's joint wealth with husband Taufik Kiemas, which totaled 59.809 billion rupiah ($5.47 million), came from family heritage and from their gas station business, the leading Kompas daily reported, quoting an interim report.

A hugely popular daughter of first president Sukarno, Megawati has received more support from opposition parties to replace President Abdurrahman Wahid, whose erratic leadership has been unpopular among many lawmakers.

Among the 47 officials ranked in the report, Wahid was at number eight with wealth of 3.495 billion ($319,908). Almost half of it was from gifts and grants collected during his first year in presidency in 1999-2000.

The auditing committee was established last year in an effort to tackle rampant corruption in Indonesia, which was one of the worst in the world.

"The list is the first and it is temporary," chairman Yusuf Shakir was quoted by Kompas as saying.

The committee has disbursed more than 600 forms to state officials, but only a fraction has duly returned their wealth form.

Amir Muin, the committee secretary, was quoted by Harian Tempo as saying house speaker Akbar Tandjung and chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly Amien Rais -- two of the country's top politicians -- were among those who had yet to return their forms.

Among ministers, only Cooperatives Minister Zarkasih Nur has reported his wealth, Muin added.

The committee promises to verify the officials' reports and check all the forms they received.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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