Construction bill upholds open tender process
Construction bill upholds open tender process
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives on Thursday passed
the bill on construction services, which requires both state and
private construction works to be offered through an open tender
process.
The bill stipulates that any construction failure during the
first 10 years after completion of a job is the responsibility of
the contractor.
Under the bill, the public have the right to sue a contractor
for construction failures or damages.
Minister of Public Works Rachmadi B. Sumadhijo said at the
House's plenary session the bill would provide legal clarity to
the construction industry, which contributes about 65 percent of
investment value to the national development.
He said the bill would provide increased leverage for local
construction firms.
"All construction works, be they government, private entities
or individual-owned, in principle have to be offered through a
transparent tender process," he said.
The bill exempts from the tendering requirement, highly
complex construction works or ones requiring urgent development.
The government could also directly appoint a contractor to work
on confidential construction projects such as a security bunker.
The bill, submitted by the government last month, also
delineates the responsibilities of each party when a construction
fails.
Rachmadi said when expectations were not met -- owners,
contractors and consultants -- must install an independent team
to determine each party's responsibility for the failure.
"If it is the contractor's fault, then a penalty will be
imposed. The same thing applies to the project owners, the
management and consultants."
In the plenary session presided over by Deputy House Speaker
Ismail Hasan Metareum, spokespersons from the four factions --
the Golkar Party, the Armed Forces, the United Development Party
(PPP), the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) -- said in their
final overviews the bill should eliminate all unfair and
unscrupulous practices in the construction industry.
"The law should remove all forms of bribery. No parties should
now win a tender thanks to bribing the tendering committee," PDI
faction spokesman Buttu Hutapea said.
During the 32-year rule of former president Soeharto, most
government projects were awarded to officials' family members and
other associates without carrying out open tenders.
The PPP faction stressed the importance of limiting the number
of foreign laborers in construction works, saying expatriate
experts only should be allowed to participate.
"The obligation would help empower local laborers and would
save our foreign exchange," faction spokesman Akmad Mugowam said.
The four factions urged the government to issue supporting
regulations to implement the law as soon as possible. (gis)