C. Jakarta court fines former minister of mines Rp 26 billion
C. Jakarta court fines former minister of mines Rp 26 billion
JAKARTA (JP): The Central Jakarta District Court ordered
former minister of mines and energy I.B. Sudjana and his staff on
Wednesday to pay Rp 26 billion (US$3.4 million) in a fine to a
private firm for canceling a contract for the development of an
office tower project.
Presiding judge Purwanto also ordered the Ministry of Mines to
return the contract to the plaintiff, namely construction firm PT
Petrobuild Indonesia.
"The cancellation of the contract was illegal. It has caused
the firm to suffer losses worth Rp 26 billion," Purwanto said.
He said the plaintiff has suffered the losses since it had
already started the construction of the tower project on Jl. M.H.
Thamrin, Central Jakarta.
He said that after examining audit reports from an independent
auditor, the panel of judges decided to order the defendants to
bear the losses.
Petrobuild's president Sjarief Tando, accompanied by his
lawyer Lelyana Santosa from Lubis, Santosa & Maulana law firm,
was relieved upon hearing the court's decision.
"It's our first step toward winning the case since the
defendants might appeal the decision," Sjarief said.
He said he would hold a meeting with the company's other
executives to consolidate and decide on the next step to be
taken.
The defendants' lawyers from the Nasution, Sudibjo, Maqdir &
Partners law firm are still considering whether to appeal.
According to Sjarief, PT Petrobuild won the US$100 million
contract to build and operate the Migas Center on a 127,708-
square-meter plot of land.
The contract -- which had been signed by Sjarief and the then
director general of oil and gas, Suyitno Patmosukismo, on Feb.
22, 1993 -- gave the company the right to operate the center for
30 years before handing it over to the ministry, he said.
But the ministry revoked the contract in April 1995 and
transferred it to PT Bhakti Patra Nusantara, which is affiliated
with the state-owned oil company Pertamina, Sjarief said.
"The cancellation of the contract and the appointment of PT
Bhakti Patra were conducted with nuances of corruption, collusion
and nepotisms," he said.
The ministry said the contract of PT Petrobuild was canceled
because the firm was believed to have inadequate funds to build
the center -- which has already been renamed Patra Graha, he
said.
Sjarief denied the allegation, saying he had evidence that
proved stateowned Bank Pembangunan Indonesia (Bapindo) had
guaranteed the funds for his company to finance the project.
(jun)