300 register to join auction of frozen banks' vehicles
JAKARTA (JP): At least 300 people have submitted the required guarantee fee in order to take part in next week's auction of 83 cars and 41 motorcycles belonging to banks frozen by the government, an executive of the organizers said Friday.
Speaking to The Jakarta Post after witnessing the crowd of people observing the vehicles on the first of the three-day Open House, managing director of PT Balai Lelang Indonesia (Balindo) auction firm, G. Gunawan, said the prospective buyers have already paid the mandatory bond of Rp 2 million (US$270) for a car and Rp 500,000 for a motorcycle.
Gunawan, however could give no further details.
But he strongly believed that his company (not a state firm as reported earlier) could reach its target of Rp 5 billion in the Tuesday and Wednesday auction.
"We have recorded some 3,000 people visiting the site today," he said in the evening, referring to Balindo's warehouse on Jl. Rawa Gelam on the Pulogadung Industrial Estate, East Jakarta.
"More people will be expected to throng the warehouse to look over the vehicles on Saturday and Sunday. That's why I'm sure all the vehicles will be sold," Gunawan said.
Next week's auction of the vehicles seized from four of the 10 banks suspended by the government recently would be the first of a series of such auctions of vehicles collected from the defunct banks.
The first phase auction would include vehicles formerly belonging to Bank Surya, Bank Deka, Hokindo Bank and Centris International Bank which were suspended in April, Gunawan said.
"The opening price will be set at between 10 percent and 20 percent below the market price," Balindo's company senior advisor Jusuf Arbianto said.
The cars to be auctioned include 37 Toyota Kijang vans, 14 Suzuki Baleno sedans, 13 Great Corolla sedans, five BMW sedans, three Mitsubishi Colt L300 minibuses, two Honda Grand Civic sedans and one Mercedes-Benz sedan.
The motorcycles consist of 19 Honda GL-Pros, 14 Vespa scooters and eight Honda Grand Astreas.
Good condition
"All of the vehicles are in good condition and already complete with the required documents," Gunawan explained.
A number of vehicles, whose documents are still being processed, would be put in the next auction. No date has been set so far.
According to Jusuf, Balindo was appointed as the organizer of the auction after it defeated 12 auction house companies in a bid to auction the vehicles from the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA).
The company, he said usually took a fee of between three percent and 20 percent from each item sold, depending upon a complicated auction process.
The company, which is partly owned by a foundation belonging to the Armed Forces Intelligence Agency (BIA), has had long-term experience with auction houses, hotels and factory buildings, before winning the bid to auction the vehicles, he said.
"We're just the organizers of the auction process. All the documents will be registered at the state-owned auction house PT Balai Lelang Negara," Jusuf said.
When asked about the imbalance of income of the state, which has spent some Rp 140 trillion on the defunct and troubled banks, Gunawan simply admitted: "It is indeed a peanut compared to the spending money but it could reflect the seriousness of efforts of the government to return the people's money to the people.
During the first observation day at the warehouse on Friday, the appearance of the large crowd of wealthy-looking people shook the nerve of the other visitors.
"It's difficult to win the bidding. There are too many big traders here," Budi, a prospective buyer, said.
However, Gunawan insisted that the auction will be conducted fairly, saying that he could not limit the number of participants.
"As long as they were able to pay the guarantee bond anyone can participate in the auction," he said. (jun)