Firms in Riau chided for paying police, TNI<\/p>\n
Haidir Anwar Tanjung, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru, Riau<\/p>\n
Several major companies in the natural-resource rich province of
\nRiau allegedly pay the local police and Indonesian Military (TN)
\nto ensure the safety of their operations, local figures said,
\nfollowing the disclosure of a similar practice by an American
\nfirm in Papua.<\/p>\n
Among them, the local figures said, were U.S. oil and gas
\ncompany PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia, and pulp and paper company
\nPT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper.<\/p>\n
\"... what is certain is that several large firms in Riau
\nalways rely on the security forces in dealing with their problems
\nwith the local communities,\" Tabrani Rab, former Free Riau
\nMovement activist and now a member of the Regional Advisory
\nCouncil, said over the weekend.<\/p>\n
\"Every time I accompany people whose land has been taken by
\nCaltex, I don't meet the company's management. Instead, I have to
\nface the Riau police's Mobile Brigade,\" he said. \"Once in a while
\nI must deal with soldiers from the Wirabima military command in
\nRiau.\"<\/p>\n
According to Tabrani, Caltex is paying the police and the
\nmilitary between Rp 8 billion (about US$898,000) and Rp 9 billion
\nper year.<\/p>\n
In 1998 and 1999, when Indonesia was in the midst of political
\nupheaval after President Soeharto's downfall, Caltex paid around
\nRp 20 billion, Tabrani said.<\/p>\n
Caltex spokesman Hanafi Kadir confirmed that it was paying the
\npolice and the military. He refused to elaborate on the amounts
\nand denied that Caltex hired the security forces to confront
\nlocals in land disputes.<\/p>\n
The payments, Hanafi said, were to protect the company's oil
\nand gas operations.<\/p>\n
Since 1998, Caltex has been complaining about deteriorating
\nsecurity conditions in Riau. It has seen frequent road blockages
\nand disputes with subcontractors' workers, while coping with the
\nrampant theft of production equipment around its facilities.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Hanafi said Caltex had incurred production losses
\nworth more than $1 million from the ongoing blockade of one of
\nits gas fields by villagers since last February.<\/p>\n
The locals are demanding that Caltex repair the public roads
\nit has damaged by letting trucks with heavy equipment pass over
\nthem.<\/p>\n
Pulp and paper company Riau Andalan, a unit of the APRIL
\nGroup, faced a similar problem with public roads but was paying
\nthe police to turn a blind eye, charged Nasarudin Sagala, deputy
\nchairman of the Riau office of the National Commission on Human
\nRights.<\/p>\n
The company, he said, donated two Toyota Kijang vehicles to
\nthe police last year.<\/p>\n
According to Tabrani, Riau Andalan had donated Rp 1 billion
\nworth of vehicles and computers to the local police in 1998.<\/p>\n
Riau Andalan spokesman Fachrunnas Jabbar said the company did
\ndonate two Kijangs to the police last year, but declined to
\ncomment further.<\/p>\n
Riau police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. S. Pandiangan confirmed
\nthe donation, which he described as a form of public
\nparticipation in helping the police doing their work.<\/p>\n
\"Let me emphasize again that the police are not paid directly.
\nSo it's not about getting paid or collecting fees,\" Pandiangan
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Riau is not the only province where companies allegedly pay
\nlocal police and the military in exchange for extra security.<\/p>\n
American gold and copper mining company, PT Freeport Indonesia
\nis paying tens of billions of rupiah to TNI personnel guarding
\nthe company's operations in the restive province of Papua.<\/p>\n
Both TNI commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto and Freeport have
\nconfirmed the reports. In 2002, the company increased payment to
\nthe TNI to US$5.6 million from $4.7 million in 2001.<\/p>\n
The military and the police are struggling to operate amid
\ntight budgets, which generally amount to less than half of their
\nrequirements.<\/p>\n
Even before the 1997 financial crisis crippled the state
\nbudget, President Soeharto had given the TNI and police a
\nfree hand to \"make\" extra money.<\/p>\n
But the policy has outgrown its purpose. Many TNI and police
\nofficers have become intimately involved in various businesses,
\nmany of them reportedly illegal.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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