Angkasa Pura faulted over tender

TANGERANG (JP): Head of the Tangerang chapter of the Indonesian Builders Association (Gapensi) Moch. Syafei protested on Monday discrimination and procedural violations by the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport operator, PT Angkasa Pura II, in appointing firms that provide supplies of equipment for itself and the airport.

"We have repeatedly sent letters of protest to the president director of PT Angkasa Pura II over the alleged procedural violations and discrimination by senior officials of the airport and its parent company PT Angkasa Pura II in appointing the winners of tendered projects worth less than Rp 50 million each. But all were to no avail," Syafei told reporters.

He accused PT Angkasa Pura II of referring its policies to the Airport Authority regulation.

"PT Angkasa Pura II should indeed refer its policies to Presidential Decree No. 16, Government Regulation No. 12 and Law No. 22/1999 on Regional Autonomy. It means that the Tangerang administration will have greater management authority at the airport," he said, while pointing out that 60 percent of the airport complex is located within the Tangerang mayoralty.

"The tendered projects have been dominated by Jakarta businessmen, who allegedly have close relationships with senior officials of the airport and its parent company," he added.

A director of project bidder CV Anugrah Hendra Jaya, Sutara, shared Syafei's statement, saying that tendered projects for the provision of electric equipment, stationery and computer spare parts, had been dominated by a group of certain firms.

"Should there be any winning bidder outside the group, it would have problems running the project," he said, citing that his company once won a tender to provide 1,000 Phillips light bulbs to the airport.

"But, we were required to obtain a certificate of assurance from the Holland-based electrics company," he said, suggesting that it was impossible for a small company like his to secure such a certificate from a large foreign company.

The head of the equipment supply section of PT Angkasa Pura II, Bambang Sulistio, however, dismissed the allegation that the winners of the tendered projects were close associates of the company's senior officials. (41/imn)