'Bappenas must be dissolved'

'Bappenas must be dissolved'

PURWOKERTO, Central Java (JP): Former finance minister Fuad
Bawazier called on the government on Monday to dissolve the
National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) because it had
failed to carry out its function.

He said Bappenas had pushed the government to obtain overseas
loans to finance the development of its projects, many of which
were not correctly planned and had consequently failed in their
implementation.

"Bappenas has simply squandered government funds. The
government has lost between 30 percent and 50 percent of the
loans it got from overseas to finance Bappenas' faulty projects,"
Fuad said on the sidelines of a seminar on the economy held at
Gen. Soedirman University, Purwokerto.

Fuad said Bappenas had failed in its role, namely to design
and determine appropriate projects to support the country's
development plan.

He alleged that some of Bappenas' development projects were
designed to benefit certain groups of companies. (45/cst)