Controversial tenders put KPU credibility at risk<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The nine members of the General Elections Commission (KPU) may be
\nbreathing sighs of relief as most tenders for the procurement of
\ngoods have been completed.<\/p>\n
However, for the public, a big question mark remains as to
\nwhether or not the controversial tenders were carried out
\nproperly.<\/p>\n
\"The tenders have prompted people to question the credibility
\nof the KPU. The members should improve the mechanism of the next
\ntenders,\" Todung Mulya Lubis, a founder of Transparency
\nInternational Indonesia, told the Jakarta Post recently.<\/p>\n
KPU members oversee the tender process directly.<\/p>\n
So far, the KPU has finished three tenders worth a total of Rp
\n520 billion, consisting of the Rp 130 billion Information
\nTechnology (IT) infrastructure tender, the Rp 324 billion
\naluminum ballot boxes tender, and the Rp 71 billion voter
\nregistration card tender.<\/p>\n
The Rp 600 billion tender for ballot papers is still underway.<\/p>\n
Of the completed tenders, the most controversial was for the
\nballot boxes because the winning consortium, PT Survindo Indah
\nPrestasi, did not produce aluminum products, while some of the
\ndetails supplied by the company were reported by some to be
\nfictitious.<\/p>\n
Survindo denied the allegations, saying that any allegation
\nshould be made based on evidence.<\/p>\n
The firm said it had a production capacity of 4.5 million
\nballot boxes, far above the 2.1 million ballot boxes required by
\nKPU.<\/p>\n
The KPU was blamed for failing to check all the information
\nsupplied by the winning consortium.<\/p>\n
The commission also denied the allegations, saying the tender
\ndocument only required a firm be able to provide office and
\nwarehouse goods.<\/p>\n
Only after media reports of the so called irregularities, did
\nthe KPU conduct checks to see if the company could meet the needs
\nof the tender.<\/p>\n
The KPU finally concluded the winning consortium was able to
\nproduce the more than 2.1 million ballot boxes for next year's
\nelection.<\/p>\n
The IT infrastructure tender was won by PT Integrasi
\nTechnology who quoted Rp 152.7 billion, while the voter
\nregistration card contract was awarded to PT Pura Barutama who
\nquoted Rp 69 billion.<\/p>\n
There were no strong objections to the outcomes of the other
\ntenders.<\/p>\n
The controversy also sparked debate in the House of
\nRepresentatives, but legislators failed to agree to set up a
\nworking committee to investigate the ballot box tender.<\/p>\n
Only the House monitoring team was set up to monitor all KPU
\nactivities, including tenders.<\/p>\n
Todung suggested that members of the KPU sign an integrity
\npact to help it increase its credibility.<\/p>\n
The signing of the pact will indicate that the commission will
\nnot be corrupt in any way.<\/p>\n
Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) coordinator Teten Masduki
\nsaid transparency in the tenders needed improvement and asked the
\nKPU to be more open to criticism.<\/p>\n
KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti said a tender would not be
\nable to satisfy all participants.<\/p>\n
He also dismissed suggestions that KPU members needed to sign
\nan integrity pact as there was no legal basis to do it.<\/p>\n
\"We all agree the norms in the pact, but there is no law
\nrequiring us to sign it,\" he said. \"So far we have not changed
\nthat decision.\"<\/p>\n
Besides, all civil servants on the commission were bound to
\ngovernment regulations that made corruption illegal, he said.<\/p>",
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