After box crisis, comes ink snag<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Another problem may rise between the General Elections Commission
\n(KPU) and the April 5 polls as a number of ink tender
\nparticipants have asked for a delay in bidding and announcement
\nof the winner.<\/p>\n
KPU member H.A. Royadi, secretary of the ink tender committee,
\nsaid at least two consortia had officially, and others
\nunofficially, requested a postponement of the bidding from the
\noriginally scheduled day on Monday.<\/p>\n
"They cite difficulties in obtaining required documents, such
\nas bank guarantees and bank account records, which we will
\nexamine on Monday. They need several more days to fulfill the
\nrequirement," he said on Friday.<\/p>\n
PT Multi Mega Service (Multi Mega) and PT Mustika Indramas
\n(Mustika) had submitted letters asking for the delay.<\/p>\n
KPU member Rusadi Kantaprawira, head of the Rp 150 billion
\n(US$17.6 million) ink tender, has repeatedly reminded all
\nconsortia that they should submit their quotations on Monday and
\nfour possible tender winners would be announced on the same day.<\/p>\n
The commission has been dealing with several mishaps after the
\nwinner of the Rp 311 billion ballot box tender, PT Survindo Indah
\nPrestasi, failed to meet its production target. The KPU shaved 60
\npercent off the firm's contract and awarded it to the second- and
\nthird-place bidders, the latter of which did not qualify in the
\ntender.<\/p>\n
The government is preparing a contingency plan in case ballot
\nboxes do not reach their destinations on time.<\/p>\n
As in the case of PT Survindo, the request to delay the ink
\ntender has raised fears that the bidders lack financial
\nresources.<\/p>\n
Of the 30 consortia registered for the tender, only eight
\npassed the KPU's administrative screening.<\/p>\n
The representatives of the eight consortia are: PT Fulcomas
\nJaya, PT Lina Permai Sakti, Multi Mega, Mustika, PT Senorotan
\nPerkasa, PT Tricipta Adimandiri, PT Wahgo International and PT
\nYana Prima Hasta Persada.<\/p>\n
Based on data obtained by The Jakarta Post from a tax office
\non Thursday, Tricipta recorded no assets nor tax payments in 2002
\nor 2003, neither did Senorotan in 2002 and between January and
\nAugust 2003.<\/p>\n
Lina Permai declared Rp 2.516 billion in assets last year, but
\ndid not pay taxes. In 2002, the company reported no assets nor
\ntax payments.<\/p>\n
Multi Mega's assets stood at Rp 3.41 billion in 2003 and made
\na Rp 341 million tax payment.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Mustika reported Rp 7.27 billion in total assets in
\n2002 with a Rp 34.6 million tax payment, but no data was
\navailable in 2003.<\/p>\n
Wahgo's assets were valued at Rp 16 billion last year, but it
\npaid no taxes. In 2002, the firm reported Rp 6.5 billion in
\nassets, but paid only Rp 311,785 in taxes.<\/p>\n
The two remaining firms, Fulcomas and Yana Prima, did not
\nappear in the KPU's database.<\/p>\n
Royadi verified the tax registration number codes (NPWP) and
\naddresses of the first six tax payers.<\/p>\n
According to the KPU, Fulcomas and Yana Prima have both
\nsubmitted their NPWPs to the commission.<\/p>\n
Separately, Rusadi said he would follow up on the tax reports
\nto avoid a repeat of the ballot box affair.<\/p>\n
He said he knew the ink tender participants had submitted
\ntheir NPWPs with KPU, but not their financial records.<\/p>\n
The KPU, however, would also take the participants' experience
\ninto consideration. For example, Lina Permai was among those
\nfirms that supplied ink in the 1999 presidential election.<\/p>",
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