Bulk of Banpres funds still unreturned by third parties
Bulk of Banpres funds still unreturned by third parties
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The bulk of the Presidential Aid Fund (Banpres) is still in the
hands of third-party borrowers, making it technically impossible
to transfer the funds to the finance ministry as required, State
Secretary/Cabinet Secretary Bambang Kesowo has said.
Briefing the media after a closed-door meeting with a team
from House Commission I, Kesowo urged the Ministry of Finance to
collect the funds itself.
"It is the responsibility of the finance ministry to collect
the money from debtors. We are ready to help if the ministry is
in need of staff," said Kesowo, who was accompanied by legislator
R.K. Sembiring Meliala of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).
He did not reveal how much money was still in the hands of
third parties. Nor did he state the names of those borrowers.
But according to a report submitted by the Supreme Audit
Agency (BPK), the third parties included the Consortium of Sea
Games (Rp 35 billion), the Supreme Court (Rp 2.5 billion),
nonperforming loans to 22 debtors in 2000 (Rp 106.4 billion),
lecturers of Pancasila promotion (Rp 7.6 billion), PT Gama Agung
Abadi (Rp 93 billion) and PT Teh Nusamba Group (Rp 12 billion).
As of April 30, the Banpres funds stood at Rp 509.26 billion
and US$10.96 million. On May 22, Kesowo, who is currently in
charge of the funds, transferred Rp 44.5 billion to the Ministry
of Finance.
Based on Law No.20/1997 on nontax state revenue, all
institutions have to hand over nontax state income to the finance
ministry before May 23, 2002, and any violator of the law may
face a maximum penalty of six years' imprisonment.
Members of Commission I's small team said on Tuesday that it
needed more time to discuss the findings of its investigation
into Banpres funds and to "harmonize perception on the issue"
among themselves.
Happy Bone Zulkarnaen of Golkar said that the legislators
asked Kesowo why borrowers of Banpres funds had failed to repay.
"Kesowo pledged that his office had been active in pressing
the debtors," Happy told the media.
According to Happy, the 12-strong verification team would soon
convene to coordinate among themselves on this matter.