Mismanagement, corruption cost Garuda $1b: ICW<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Mismanagement and corruption have caused state-
\nowned flag carrier Garuda Indonesia to lose at least US$1
\nbillion, Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) say.<\/p>\n
The watchdog said on Tuesday that indications of
\nmismanagement, corruption and collusion were found in the leasing
\nof the airline's aircraft and aircraft maintenance projects
\ndating back to 1989.<\/p>\n
\"Garuda has been weighed down by huge debt problems, most of
\nwhich have been caused by the projects,\" ICW said in a statement
\ndistributed during a hearing session between Garuda management
\nand members of House Commission IV for transportation and
\ninfrastructure affairs.<\/p>\n
The projects are the leasing of four Airbus A330-300s from a
\njoint venture between Japanese firm Yamasa Corporation and
\nconsortium of banks led by Morgan Grenfell; the leasing of two
\nBoeing B747-200 jets from the Japan Fleet Service; the leasing of
\na Boeing B747-400 from the International Lease Financing
\nCorporation; and a maintenance agreement on 17 Fokker F-28s with
\nthe other state-owned air carrier Merpati Nusantara and private
\nfirm PT Sakanusa Dirgantara.<\/p>\n
ICW said that corruption in the Yamasa and Morgan Grenfell-led
\nleasing project started in 1989 when Garuda, under the leadership
\nof the then company president Soeparno, decided to lease nine
\nBoeing B300-300s without performing proper feasibility studies.<\/p>\n
ICW alleged that some Garuda officials colluded with
\nrepresentatives of the two lessor companies to mark up the
\nleasing contract so that Garuda had to pay more, inflicting loses
\nof about $1 billion in the process.<\/p>\n
It said the mark-up of the contract value and collusion by
\nGaruda officials the company lost at least $26.8 million from the
\nleasing of two Boeing B747-200s, $42.5 million from the leasing
\nof Boeing 747-400 and $7.1 million from the Fokker maintenance
\nproject.<\/p>\n
\"There is adequate proof of corruption and collusion conducted
\nby Garuda officials along with accomplices from companies with
\nwhom Garuda made contract agreements,\" ICW said, naming former
\nhead of company asset supervisor Capt. Agus Wahyudo as one of the
\nGaruda officials implicated in the corruption.<\/p>\n
Some members of the House Commission IV demanded Garuda
\nmanagement investigate the incidents of corruption and dismiss
\nofficials involved in them.<\/p>\n
Garuda's president Abdul Gani said he would form a team to
\ninvestigate the cases.<\/p>\n
He did not deny the truth of ICW's accusations, saying there
\nwas a possibility that bad practices had occurred in the
\nprojects.<\/p>\n
He said that the company had been trying to sort out past
\nprojects that were tainted with corruption. Garuda has submitted
\ndata and documents about eight projects to the Attorney General's
\noffice, including the maintenance agreement with Merpati and PT
\nSakanusa as mentioned by ICW, that were carried out in a corrupt
\nand collusive manner, he said.<\/p>\n
\"But we apologize if we cannot sort out all the cases of
\ncorruption and collusion at once, because our main focus over the
\nlast couple of years has been solving problems related to
\nnegative cash flow and debt restructuring,\" he told the
\ncommission members.<\/p>\n
Gani said Garuda had to focus its attention on cash flow
\nimprovement and debt settlement in order to keep the airline
\nalive amid the bad financial performances it had seen for years.<\/p>\n
He said Garuda had been in the red for the last 10 years and
\nhad only been able to return to the black last year when it
\nrecorded a net profit of Rp 617 billion.<\/p>\n
Company finance director Emirsyah Satar said Garuda had seen
\nbetter results so far this year, with first quarter net profit
\namounting to Rp 29 billion, as against a projected Rp 116 billion
\nnet loss.<\/p>\n
He said as of end of March this year Garuda had recorded Rp
\n21.3 billion in operating profits, also well above the predicted
\nfigure of Rp 27.7 billion in operating losses.<\/p>\n
Emirsyah said Garuda expected to book 2000 full-year net
\nprofits of Rp 668 billion. (cst)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/mismanagement-corruption-cost-garuda-1b-icw-1447893297",
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