After box crisis, comes ink snag

After box crisis, comes ink snag

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Another problem may rise between the General Elections Commission
(KPU) and the April 5 polls as a number of ink tender
participants have asked for a delay in bidding and announcement
of the winner.

KPU member H.A. Royadi, secretary of the ink tender committee,
said at least two consortia had officially, and others
unofficially, requested a postponement of the bidding from the
originally scheduled day on Monday.

"They cite difficulties in obtaining required documents, such
as bank guarantees and bank account records, which we will
examine on Monday. They need several more days to fulfill the
requirement," he said on Friday.

PT Multi Mega Service (Multi Mega) and PT Mustika Indramas
(Mustika) had submitted letters asking for the delay.

KPU member Rusadi Kantaprawira, head of the Rp 150 billion
(US$17.6 million) ink tender, has repeatedly reminded all
consortia that they should submit their quotations on Monday and
four possible tender winners would be announced on the same day.

The commission has been dealing with several mishaps after the
winner of the Rp 311 billion ballot box tender, PT Survindo Indah
Prestasi, failed to meet its production target. The KPU shaved 60
percent off the firm's contract and awarded it to the second- and
third-place bidders, the latter of which did not qualify in the
tender.

The government is preparing a contingency plan in case ballot
boxes do not reach their destinations on time.

As in the case of PT Survindo, the request to delay the ink
tender has raised fears that the bidders lack financial
resources.

Of the 30 consortia registered for the tender, only eight
passed the KPU's administrative screening.

The representatives of the eight consortia are: PT Fulcomas
Jaya, PT Lina Permai Sakti, Multi Mega, Mustika, PT Senorotan
Perkasa, PT Tricipta Adimandiri, PT Wahgo International and PT
Yana Prima Hasta Persada.

Based on data obtained by The Jakarta Post from a tax office
on Thursday, Tricipta recorded no assets nor tax payments in 2002
or 2003, neither did Senorotan in 2002 and between January and
August 2003.

Lina Permai declared Rp 2.516 billion in assets last year, but
did not pay taxes. In 2002, the company reported no assets nor
tax payments.

Multi Mega's assets stood at Rp 3.41 billion in 2003 and made
a Rp 341 million tax payment.

Meanwhile, Mustika reported Rp 7.27 billion in total assets in
2002 with a Rp 34.6 million tax payment, but no data was
available in 2003.

Wahgo's assets were valued at Rp 16 billion last year, but it
paid no taxes. In 2002, the firm reported Rp 6.5 billion in
assets, but paid only Rp 311,785 in taxes.

The two remaining firms, Fulcomas and Yana Prima, did not
appear in the KPU's database.

Royadi verified the tax registration number codes (NPWP) and
addresses of the first six tax payers.

According to the KPU, Fulcomas and Yana Prima have both
submitted their NPWPs to the commission.

Separately, Rusadi said he would follow up on the tax reports
to avoid a repeat of the ballot box affair.

He said he knew the ink tender participants had submitted
their NPWPs with KPU, but not their financial records.

The KPU, however, would also take the participants' experience
into consideration. For example, Lina Permai was among those
firms that supplied ink in the 1999 presidential election.