A country of looters<\/p>\n
Many, if not most, Indonesian people would agreed with Media
\nIndonesia (Sept. 12) description of the country as land of
\nlooters, especially with the recent unraveling of a crude oil
\nsmuggling ring consisting, mostly, of state oil and gas company
\n(PT Pertamina) officials, who have siphoned off huge quantities
\nof oil causing the state Rp 8.8 trillion (US$850 million) in
\nlosses a year.<\/p>\n
Here is a situation where one of the nation's most valuable
\nresources is stolen by individuals in formidable amounts. An even
\nlarger plunder is in the form of illegal logging, which over many
\nyears has caused the state to lose an estimated Rp 15 trillion a
\nmonth; equivalent to Rp 180 trillion or around $18 billion a year
\nin Sumatra alone (The Jakarta Post, July 7, 2004).<\/p>\n
We would need a pretty long list to name all the nation's
\nassets that are being stripped, resulting in a huge number of
\nstate funds being stolen and misappropriated.<\/p>\n
As far as the PT Pertamina case is concerned, the fuel
\nshortages that have plagued areas throughout the country for the
\npast few months would never have happened had efficient work
\npractices been adopted by its boards of directors and
\ncommissioners.<\/p>\n
However, inefficiency, rather than a prudent application of
\nrisk management has become their hallmark. As a result, rampant
\nsmuggling has caused this this state-owned company to suffer a
\ngradual decline in its production, with the country since last
\nyear becoming a net oil importer.<\/p>\n
Those stealing the oil not only include PT Pertamina officials
\nand their accomplices, but also the distributors that sell
\ngasoline and diesel fuel.<\/p>\n
Despite PT Pertamina's efforts to crack down on 52 gas
\nstations for meter tampering five months ago, investigators found
\n14 gas stations in Jakarta still fiddling the meters last week,
\nripping off a combined Rp 905 million from their customers from
\nJuly to September this year (Media Indonesia, Sept. 15).<\/p>\n
Smuggling and corruption in Pertamina, meanwhile, goes on at
\nall levels, even at the signing of production-sharing contracts.
\nSince the establishment of the Oil and Gas Business Activity
\nExecutive Agency (BPKU), the supervision process regarding the
\nsale of oil from off-shore oil rigs has become unclear, unlike
\nduring the period when PT Pertamina was in control of production
\nsharing contracts.<\/p>\n
Why do these cases continue to repeat? It is because of the
\ninefficient performance of Pertamina management and their lax
\ninternal supervision?<\/p>\n
M. RUSDI, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/a-country-of-looters-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }