JP\/4\/bakrie<\/p>\n
Aburizal slammed over Bank Mandiri comment<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Anticorruption activists have lashed out at chief economics
\nminister Aburizal Bakrie on Sunday for making a statement that
\napparently defended state-owned Bank Mandiri that is currently
\nfacing a graft probe over some bad loans.<\/p>\n
They said the statement by the coordinating minister for the
\neconomy could dampen the government's effort to fight corruption,
\nwith Indonesia ranked as one of the most corrupt nations on
\nearth.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Aburizal said that procedural irregularities by
\nBank Mandiri -- the country's largest bank in terms of assets --
\nin providing loans worth up to Rp 12 trillion (US$1.26 billion)
\nthat later had to be booked as bad debts, could not be
\ninterpreted as corruption.<\/p>\n
\"Irregularities don't necessarily mean corruption. It's an old
\nconcept and state officials should change that. The important
\nthing is that we should be looking at the end results,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Responding to the statement, Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW)
\ndeputy chairman Lucky Djani said it was improper for the chief
\neconomics minister to make such a statement amid the ongoing
\ninvestigation into alleged corruption at the bank.<\/p>\n
\"Irregularities, which are deliberately created so that
\nsomeone makes a profit, are another form of corruption, just like
\nwhat happened in the BNI (Bank Negara Indonesia) graft scam
\nbecause there was no supervision or warning systems,\" Lucky
\nargued.<\/p>\n
He said that instead of issuing such a statement, Aburizal as
\na high-ranking government official should have encouraged the
\nAttorney General's Office (AGO) to find those responsible for the
\nnon-performing loans, especially as Bank Mandiri is a publicly
\nlisted company.<\/p>\n
Similarly, another anticorruption activist Bambang Widjojanto
\nsaid Aburizal's comment could attenuate the government's national
\ndrive against corruption.<\/p>\n
\"We should quietly wait for the final results of the
\ninvestigation, then we can start making statements,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In the first stage of their investigation, AGO prosecutors
\nwere focusing on alleged irregularities by Bank Mandiri in
\nchanneling more than Rp 1 trillion in loans to four companies --
\nTV broadcaster PT Lativi Media Karya, PT Citra Graha
\nNusantara\/Tahta Medan, PT Arutmin and PT Siak Zamrud Pusaka.<\/p>\n
Several debtors have already been declared suspects in the
\ncase.<\/p>\n
Lucky also criticized other high-ranking government officials
\nfor lacking a sense of awareness when it comes to bank scams,
\ngraft or any other cases.<\/p>\n
\"We should compare this with other countries, where if there
\nis a single case of embezzlement, they would investigate it
\nintensively without asking whether it is merely an 'irregularity'
\nor corruption,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"Besides, if it is only an irregularity, how could it involve
\nso much money? The mechanism of giving loans should be fixed as
\nwell,\" Lucky said.<\/p>\n
This contradicts another of Aburizal's statements that losses
\nduring the extending of loans by banks were common and that if
\nlending was profitable then procedures should be put to one side.<\/p>\n
Aburizal Bakrie once controlled the Bakrie Group, his family
\nbusiness, before becoming a minister. Last year's audit of
\npublicly listed PT Bakrie & Brothers showed that its subsidiary
\nPT Bakrie Telecom secured a long-term loan worth Rp 548.2 billion
\nfrom Bank Mandiri.<\/p>\n
However, PT Bakrie Telecom on Sunday denied the report, saying
\nthe loan obtained in April 2003 was not problematic.<\/p>\n
\"Currently, the amount of Bakrie Telecom's debt with Bank
\nMandiri has decreased to Rp 515.8 billion because in 2004 we paid
\nthe principle of the loan worth Rp 32.7 billion,\" the company's
\nsenior manager for corporate communications, Lalu Mara Satria,
\nsaid in a press statement.<\/p>\n
\"So, it was not true that the debt was restructured through a
\n'haircut' (debt write-off) agreed to by the bank,\" he added.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp4bakrie-1447899208",
"image": ""
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