City abuses tender procedures: Lawyer

JAKARTA (JP): The lawyer for a small supplier firm has said his client is demanding that a project bid under the city's personnel bureau be voided and bidding held again.

Pardomuan Simanjuntak of Parist and Associates said his client, PT Ronald Maju, was also considering suing the city's head of bids committee for abusing bidding procedures.

The company, represented by B. Simbolon, had registered early this year in a bid for the supply of microfilms, a project for the city's personnel bureau.

The bid was in the C category, for projects under Rp 500 million (US$208,768).

When the committee invited all bidders to attend the announcement of the bids on Jan. 16, the proposals of two companies, including Ronald Maju's, were not announced.

"The opening of the bid documents by the committee did not reflect the 1994 presidential decree," Pardomuan said, referring to a decree on bid procedures.

Pardomuan said his client's bid was the lowest at Rp 92.3 million, while the highest was from a firm called PT Lamson Marumar Jaya, who proposed costs of Rp 199.9 million.

The firm's representative had questioned the committee, but the staff could not give clear answers.

"We sent a letter to the city's internal investigator on Jan. 17 but have not received a response," Pardomuan said Saturday.

He had also approached the city's personnel bureau but the staff there could not comment either, the lawyer said.

Pardomuan said he was told the head of the bureau had been summoned to the investigator's office, and therefore could not comment.

Earlier this month, Governor Surjadi Soedirdja warned heads of city projects to step up supervision of projects which were expected to improve the city's public services. He said those involved in projects should not aim to enrich themselves.

The lawyer said the committee's conduct "clearly hurts the city's partners in its projects, which are small companies."

He added he had received several other complaints about the city's bids committee.

"But this one had gone too far because it involved one of the last steps (in securing a project) and because it was the committee who invited our client," Pardomuan said.

Other complaints, he said, concerned bids on several other city agencies projects.

For instance, company representatives said bureaucrats were "arrogant" nearing the registration time deadline.

"They are hard to find and the registration booths are often empty," the lawyer said.

"As a result bids are registered too late," Pardomuan said.

He said company managements acknowledge having to pay levies, but are tight-lipped about it.

"Managements who reported to us do not complain about losing money to levies, even when they lose, as long as the city sticks to the procedures," the lawyer said.

He added that violations of procedures have led to suspicion that bids were rigged.

"Even now we do not know who won the microfilm supply project," he said.

Bid winners are announced a week after the committee reveals what is called the list of city project partners. (anr)