Corruption still prevalent in PLN's Riau office, says YLKI

Haidir Anwar Tanjung, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru

Corruption amounting to many billions of Rupiah is rampant at the Riau branch of state-owned electricity company PT PLN which has contributed to the company posting annual losses, the Indonesian Consumers Agency (YLKI) says.

And the corruption has not been detected or acted on by law enforcement officials, YLKI Riau Branch chairman Andreas Heri Kahurifan told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

He said a recent YLKI field investigation had found widespread corruption and collusion practices among PLN employees and officials in the province.

The investigation found PLN employees had at least two methods of stealing or extorting money, Andreas said.

The first type of corruption was the extortion of electricity thieves by PLN's anti-electricity theft operation team (OPAL), he said.

"The OPAL team extorts local people found guilty of tampering with their electricity meters, instead of taking tight measures against them. The thieves are obliged to pay a certain rate every month."

Andreas also said that many prospective consumers were forced to have PLN employees install the power connection for cash without the notification of the local branch office.

"This has frequently happened because prospective consumers ... gained no positive response from their applications to have power installed.

"The irony is that PLN employees providing the illegal supply of power tell the OPAL employees to take action. The OPAL team then extort the consumers, instead if punishing them," he said, saying consumers and prospective consumers have been trapped by the corrupt officials' deceit.

He said consumers were forced to pay the corrupt PLN officials because they had no other alternative.

According to PLN's directives, people were obliged to pay between Rp 100,000 and 300,000 for such violations, depending on voltage, while consumers who were found guilty of tampering with electricity meters were required to pay Rp 1,760,000 per violation.

Andreas said YLKI has discovered a total of 788 cases in the province during the last year, causing Rp 1.576 billion in material losses to the state.

The current theft has also been prevalent in Pantai Cermin Subdistrict in Kampar Regency. Hundreds of employees of a oil- palm plantation have enjoyed a cheap electricity supply thanks to the OPAL team. This practice has gone on for tens of years without any detection from the authorities.

"According to our calculation, PLN suffered more than Rp 8 billion in losses during the last year from such crimes committed by its employees," he said.

He insisted that all the money collected from consumers and prospective customers were embezzled, instead of being handed over to the state.

Johar Soebakti, chief of the Pekanbaru branch of PLN, denied the findings, saying YLKI should hand over the investigation's results to be followed up.

"If the report is true, we will take strict action against those involved in such crimes," he said.

D. Siallagan, spokesman for the prosecutor's office in the city, said his office had yet to receive any report on the corruption in the PLN branch office, saying the local police should act quickly on the findings.

Indra M. Adnan, a member of the Riau provincial legislature's commission IV on electricity and mining, said he would invite YLKI to present its findings to be followed up later.

"But, I am not surprised to hear the findings because the corrupt and collusive practice has happened not only in Riau but, nationwide. This is why PLN has continued to suffer losses over the last four years," he said.