Bank clients trickle in to reclaim money

JAKARTA (JP): Only a small number of clients from the 16 liquidated banks fronted yesterday at the state-owned banks appointed to reimburse depositors on the first day of a 70-day withdrawal period.

Dozens of clients from liquidated Bank Harapan Sentosa (BHS) turned up at state-owned Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) on Jl. Jend. Sudirman, South Jakarta. But only a few of them made withdrawals, while others deposited their money with the bank.

Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad announced on Feb. 20 that President Soeharto had decided the government would reimburse depositors in full.

After the bank liquidations in early November, the government had only guaranteed up to Rp 20 million for immediate reimbursement to depositors.

Employees of Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) on Jl. Gajah Mada, Central Jakarta, which was appointed to serve clients of liquidated Bank Guna International, had little to do.

It was a similar scene in Tangerang yesterday with only 15 BHS clients from a total of 600 visiting BNI's Tangerang branch on Jl. Daan Mogot.

The head of BNI Tangerang, Rijanta, urged bank clients not to withdraw their cash for security reasons.

"Don't keep cash in your home for your own safety. It's better to save or deposit your money at an attractive interest rate here," Rijanta said.

Only three Bank Guna clients withdrew their money from BTN's Tangerang branch on Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan from 8 a.m yesterday.

Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata said the withdrawal process was safe because few people came to the banks.

"I think no more than 10 percent of clients of the liquidated banks withdrew their money today," Hamami said yesterday. (jun/cst/41)