Indonesia pays $1.8m for grounded jet fighter in the U.S.<\/p>\n
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government had paid more than US$1.8 million during the past
\n10 years to house a grounded jet fighter in the United States
\nafter Washington placed a military embargo on Indonesia, a
\nlegislator claimed.<\/p>\n
Assembled in 1980, the Air Force's F-5 aircraft was purchased
\nfrom Israel in the early 1990s but had to be overhauled some time
\nlater in a warehouse near Los Angeles, House of Representatives
\nlawmaker Djoko Susilo said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Djoko, who has just returned from Washington, said Indonesia
\nhad to pay $15,000 per month to rent the space. The procurement
\nand the decision to have the jet overhauled had been facilitated
\nby an Indonesian contractor, he said.<\/p>\n
The repairs to the plane took a couple of years, during which
\ntime the U.S. government enforced the military embargo. It meant
\nthat the U.S. would not import or release any military hardware
\nto Indonesia, including the aircraft, he said.<\/p>\n
The embargo was included in the U.S. Leahy amendment, which
\nwas instituted after the 1991 St. Cruz incident in East Timor
\nwhen Indonesian troops shot to death several pro-independence
\nprotesters.<\/p>\n
While acknowledging that no one could have seen the embargo
\ncoming, Djoko questioned the decision to overhaul the jet fighter
\nin the U.S. instead of in other closer countries, and blamed the
\nIndonesian contractor for the oversight.<\/p>\n
\"The government, whether it was the then ministry of defense
\nand security or the Air Force, should have held the contractor
\naccountable for the decision. We could have had it repaired in a
\ncloser country instead of the U.S.<\/p>\n
\"We've been paying a lot for virtually nothing. The jet is
\nprobably just pieces of rubble now, while we could have used the
\nmoney to build better dormitories or housing for our soldiers,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Asked where the rent money came from, Djoko said it was likely
\nto have been allocated in the Ministry of Defense's budget.<\/p>\n
Djoko, a National Mandate Party (PAN) legislator, sits on the
\nHouse Commission I on security and foreign affairs. He said he
\nwould summon the defense minister and the Indonesian Military top
\nbrass to clarify the matter.<\/p>\n
Air Force spokesman First Marshall Sagoe Tambun said the rent
\nmoney did not come from the Air Force's budget, He said he
\nbelieved it was the Indonesian contractor that had paid the rent.<\/p>\n
\"I'm almost certain the rent money is not from our budget. We
\nhave a very limited budget, so why would we spend it on warehouse
\nrental? Besides, the Ministry of Finance would have questioned us
\nabout it. There must have been some kind of agreement between the
\ngovernment and the contractor to anticipate such a situation, but
\nI'd have to dig it up first,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Tambun, who did not remember the name of the contractor, said
\nthere was almost nothing Jakarta could do about this because
\nWashington had refused to relax its policy. Indonesia would
\nlikely have to spend more money to carry out tests on the jet
\nwhen it was eventually used because it had been grounded for
\nyears, he said<\/p>\n
He said the jet was repaired in the U.S. because the country
\nhad sophisticated facilities and qualified service personnel. The
\ndecision to repair it there was not the defense contractors', he
\nsaid.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-pays-18m-for-grounded-jet-fighter-in-the-us-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}