House members question status of PTP Agrintara<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): House members wondered yesterday how PTP
\nAgrintara, wholly owned by state plantation companies, could be
\nclassified as a private company, and be allowed to refuse an
\naudit by the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP).<\/p>\n
Imam Churmem, deputy chairman of the House Agriculture
\nCommission, said that only the finance minister is empowered to
\nchange the status of a state company into a private one.<\/p>\n
Churmem was commenting on the recent remarks by PTP
\nAgrintara's president Soeharno and Agriculture Minister
\nSjarifuddin Baharsjah to the effect that the Comptroller was not
\nauthorized to audit the company.<\/p>\n
He was quoted by Antara as saying that Soeharno produced only
\na letter from the then director general for state companies
\nMartiono Hadianto dated February 9, 1993, and another one from
\nthe chief of the finance ministry's legal affairs bureau Agus
\nHaryanto to support his position on PTP Agrintara's private
\nstatus.<\/p>\n
\"The two officials were not authorized to change the status of
\nPTP Agrintara,\" Churmem said.<\/p>\n
Strange<\/p>\n
Aberson Marle Sihaloho, a member of the House Budgetary
\nCommission, agreed that Soeharno's and Baharsjah's remarks seemed
\nstrange.<\/p>\n
He wondered how a company wholly owned by state companies
\ncould be legally classified as a private company.<\/p>\n
Another House member, Tajoeddin Noer, noted that even a joint
\nventure between a state company and a private firm could be
\naudited by the Development Finance Comptroller, let alone PTP
\nAgrintara which is entirely owned by state plantation companies.<\/p>\n
The letters of the finance officials, as quoted by Soeharno,
\ndid stipulate that PTP Agrintara, as the holding company of state
\nplantations firms for developing downstream industries, is exempt
\nfrom government procurement procedures, to make it flexible.<\/p>\n
\"So I think the Development Finance Comptroller should, indeed
\nmust, audit PTP Agrintara,\" Tajoeddin said, commenting on the
\nrecent letter from the comptroller's chief Soedarjono to the
\nfinance minister that his office's request to audit PTP Agrintara
\nwas turned down by the company.<\/p>\n
An agricultural official, who insisted on anonymity, noted
\nthat the private company status, as claimed by Soeharno, was
\nrelated only to the procurement procedures and not to
\naccountability.<\/p>\n
In fact, he added, PTP Agrintara's internal memos have shown
\nhow Minister Baharsjah had always been consulted by the company's
\npresident on any major operational decision and how Baharsjah
\nalso consulted Finance Minister Mar'ie Muhammad on the company's
\nprojects and financing proposals.<\/p>\n
PTP Agrintara was recently alleged by several agricultural
\nofficials and organizations to have concluded questionable deals
\nwith two companies controlled by a businessman who is a close
\nassociate of Minister Baharsjah. (vin)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/house-members-question-status-of-ptp-agrintara-1447893297",
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