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.