Habibie letter confuses Natuna project parties<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A letter sent by President BJ Habibie's close
\naide has drawn conflicting interpretations over the President's
\npolicy on the contract awarded to PT McDermott Indonesia for the
\nconstruction of the natural gas pipeline connecting the area west
\nof Natuna island and Singapore.<\/p>\n
Legislators said the letter sent by the secretary for
\ndevelopment operation control (Sesdalopbang), Sintong Pandjaitan,
\nindicated that Habibie supported the idea of retendering the
\nproject to end the controversy revolving around the selection of
\nMcDermott.<\/p>\n
\"To be honest, the letter is confusing. But the letter appears
\nto indicate Habibie wants the appointment of McDermott to be
\ncanceled,\" legislator Hari Salman Farizi Sohar told The Jakarta
\nPost.<\/p>\n
But state oil and gas company Pertamina said the letter
\nindicated Habibie supports Pertamina's decision to approve
\nMcDermott for the project.<\/p>\n
\"For us, the letter clearly shows that the President supports
\nthe selection of McDermott,\" Pertamina foreign contractor
\nmanagement body (BPPKA) spokesman Sidick Nitikusuma told The
\nPost.<\/p>\n
Sesdalopbang, which is not part of the Cabinet, serves as a
\nclose aide to the President.<\/p>\n
Pandjaitan sent the letter on Aug. 30 to Minister of
\nJustice\/State Secretary Muladi, Minister of Mines and Energy
\nKuntoro Mangkusubroto and Minister of Finance Bambang Subianto,
\nas a reply for the letter sent by Pertamina president Martiono
\nHadianto on Aug. 20.<\/p>\n
\"We hereby inform the instructions of the President ... that
\nthe West Natuna gas project should be continued on schedule as
\ndetermined in an open and transparent bidding so that the winner
\nof the bidding is free from the elements of corruption, collusion
\nand nepotism (KKN),\" Pandjaitan said in the letter.<\/p>\n
Copies of the letter were sent to Habibie and Martiono.<\/p>\n
McDermott, a subsidiary of American construction firm J Ray
\nMcDermott SA, won the project with the lowest bid of US$335
\nmillion.<\/p>\n
The 560-kilometer underwater pipeline will be used to
\ntransport natural gas to Singapore from the gas fields developed
\nby three of Pertamina's contractors: Premier Oil of Britain, Gulf
\nResources of Canada and Conoco Inc. of the United States.<\/p>\n
House of Representatives Commission V for mines and energy
\nrecently recommended the government cancel McDermott's contract
\nafter finding irregularities in the bidding process for the
\nproject.<\/p>\n
The commission charged McDermott with benefiting from insider
\ninformation to win the project, but McDermott strongly denied the
\ncharge.<\/p>\n
The commission recommended the government transfer the
\ncontract from McDermott to one of its competitors: Italian firm
\nSaipem, French firm ETPM or Japanese firm Nippon Steel.<\/p>\n
The House board of leaders approved the recommendation and
\nsent it to Kuntoro on Aug. 31. (jsk)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/habibie-letter-confuses-natuna-project-parties-1447893297",
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