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)