'President's son involved in Kemayoran project'<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
State\/Cabinet Secretary Bambang Kesowo confirmed on Friday that
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri's son Mohammad Rizky Pratama was
\ninvolved in the Rp 1.3 trillion (US$164.7 million) real estate
\nproject to be built on state land in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Bambang, however, dismissed allegations that Pratama, better
\nknown as Tatam, would benefit from his status as part of the
\nfirst family to win the government's favor without a tender.<\/p>\n
\"Being a president's son does not mean that he (Tatam) cannot
\ndo any business. The most important thing is that he did not
\nviolate any regulations or cause any loss to the state,\" Bambang
\ntold a media conference.<\/p>\n
Tatam, the eldest son of the President from her first husband,
\nthe late Air Force pilot Capt. Surindro, is the vice president
\ncommissioner of PT Theda Persada Nusantara, which plans to build
\nplush apartments, a hypermarket and shopping center on 14
\nhectares of land belonging to the Kemayoran New Town Authority
\n(DPPPKK), a state agency that falls under the State Secretary.<\/p>\n
Negotiations remain underway on the project, according to
\nBambang. The company has claimed to have Rp 2.6 trillion stand-by
\nfunds to finance the construction project, with the concession
\nlasting 45 years after completion of the project.<\/p>\n
Bambang called the conference two days after he refused to
\nclarify reports of alleged nepotism in the appointment of the
\ncompany for the project. Sources said Megawati had phoned him
\ntwice on Thursday evening and Friday morning regarding the
\nmatter.<\/p>\n
The House of Representative ad hoc team tasked with
\ninvestigating the management of state land in Kemayoran
\nquestioned early this week Tatam's involvement in the
\nmegaproject.<\/p>\n
Children of former president Soeharto were granted various
\nmultimillion dollar projects during his 32-year rule, a practice
\nblamed for encouraging corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN)
\nin the country.<\/p>\n
The reform movement that forced Soeharto to resign in May 1998
\nwas aimed at, among others, eradicating KKN.<\/p>\n
In a show of support for the movement, shortly after her
\nascension to the presidency, Megawati asked her family members to
\nshy away from business.<\/p>\n
Bambang said he guaranteed no KKN practices were involved in
\nthe deal, saying he was the one who supervised the ongoing
\nnegotiations.<\/p>\n
\"I assure you there was no nepotism because it was my decision
\n(to talk with Tatam's company),\" he stressed.<\/p>\n
The state land in Kemayoran, which formerly served as a
\ndomestic airport, was opened to the public for investments in
\n1991, after a fairground was built there.<\/p>\n
Bambang said that so far no companies applying for investment
\nthere had managed to fulfill criteria set by the government.<\/p>\n
\"We did not open a tender because this is a program to attract
\ninvestment, but the public do know that we want private companies
\nto manage the land,\" Bambang said.<\/p>\n
According to the article 17 of the Presidential decree
\nNo.18\/2000 on procurement of goods and services for state
\nagencies, the government can appoint or assign its partners for a
\nproject worth less than Rp 50 million.<\/p>\n
Contracts for bigger projects should be conducted through open
\ntenders.<\/p>\n
Bambang said that Tatam, along with his business partners,
\nmade the proposal for an investment on the site in January this
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Another company, PT Pusaka Ancol, also proposed to manage the
\nstate land.<\/p>\n
\"We dropped PT Pusaka Ancol because they proposed to use the
\nground as stores, our requirement is that the ground should be
\nused as an international trading site,\" the director of Kemayoran
\nnew town authority, Abdul Muis, told the same conference.<\/p>\n
\"We continued the negotiations with PT Theda because they
\nfulfilled our criteria.\"<\/p>\n
He claimed to have not known that the President's son was
\ninvolved until last August when they submitted the organizational
\nstructure of the company as part of the requirements of the
\nnegotiation.<\/p>\n
\"Tatam's father was my friend, as I served in the Air Force
\ntoo,\" Abdul disclosed.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/presidents-son-involved-in-kemayoran-project-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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