Legislators support TNI procurement contractors<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Legislators voiced their firm support on Monday for the
\ncurrent contracting system in the Indonesian Military (TNI) and
\nthe Ministry of Defense, a system that had in the past been
\ninstrumental in huge mark-ups of government procurement
\ncontracts.<\/p>\n
However, the legislators said that the appointment of any
\ncontractor should be done through a transparent bidding process
\nto get a reasonable value for all purchases.<\/p>\n
The chairman of the House of Representatives' Commission I on
\ndefense and foreign affairs, Ibrahim Ambong, said legislators,
\ntogether with the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), would continue to
\n\"actively monitor the military's procurement.\"<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, commission member Effendy Choirie of the National
\nAwakening Party (PKB) faction also supported the contracting
\nsystem and called on the Ministry of Finance to help oversee the
\nuse of the money.<\/p>\n
Many have blamed the presence of contractors as the source of
\nmark-up practices at the TNI and other state institutions.<\/p>\n
The military's chiefs of staff urged the government as well as
\nthe House recently to drop the contracting system so that it
\ncould purchase whatever it needed directly from suppliers.<\/p>\n
The current contracting policy dates back to the 1970s and
\nstipulates that all government ministries must use contractors to
\nprocure their needs.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Director General of Defense Equipment Procurement
\nat the Ministry of Defense, Maj. Gen. Aqlani Maza (not Aqlani
\nMasa as reported earlier), revealed that the massive corruption
\nin the procurement of military equipment in the past was due to
\nthe presence of \"some contractors,\" connected to former president
\nSoeharto.<\/p>\n
He argued that the mark-ups in the past were not the result of
\nthe system but more of the abuses by people allowed in the
\nsystem.<\/p>\n
He, therefore, defended the presence of contractors in
\nmilitary procurement system, saying that \"we need them because
\nthe TNI does not have enough money to pay in cash.\"<\/p>\n
According to Aqlani, if the government insisted upon stopping
\ncorruption, the government first must know exactly the market
\nprices of goods and services that it wanted to purchase.<\/p>\n
\"If the government knows the market prices, the contractors
\nwill have to think twice about their bid price on a project,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
In the future, Aqlani suggested that the government pursue a
\ngovernment-to-government approach in dealing with purchases of
\nmilitary equipment and weaponry.<\/p>\n
\"I'm sure that such a G-to-G approach will curb mark up
\npractices,\" Aqlani said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/legislators-support-tni-procurement-contractors-1447893297",
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