Councilors want inquiry into water revenues
JAKARTA (JP): City Council will summon representatives of city-owned water company PDAM Jaya and its two private partners to question them over the whereabouts of Rp 90 billion collected during a short-lived accord, a councilor said yesterday.
A member of Commission D for development affairs, Lukman Mokoginta, said the three companies should disclose their financial management to the public, through the Council, even though the cooperation agreement had been canceled.
PDAM director Rama Boedi said over the weekend the municipality ended the accord on the grounds that the awarding of the project smacked of corruption, collusion and nepotism.
He said there had not been an open bid and PT Garuda Dipta Semesta (GDS), a subsidiary company owned by tycoon Soedono Salim -- better known as Liem Sioe Liong -- and PT Kekar-Thames Airindo (Kati), controlled by former president Soeharto's eldest son Sigit Hardjojudanto, had not paid their equities.
Lukman said: "The council hasn't been informed about the cancellation of the cooperation agreement and we just heard about it from the mass media.
"It will be too easy for the private companies if they are not asked about their responsibilities after their agreement was canceled."
The commission will meet to discuss the matter today but Lukman did not mention when the meeting with representatives of the three firms would take place.
PDAM has cooperated with the two private companies since February.
After the agreement was signed, PDAM announced tap water tariffs would increase by an average of 25 percent as of April 1. Customers condemned the increases which were introduced during a time of economic hardship.
The new rates mostly affect affluent customers, who have to pay up to 65.71 percent more, while nonprofit organizations were offered a 3.85 percent discount.
Rama said tariffs would be lowered now that the accord had been revoked.
Lukman urged PDAM not to enter a cooperation agreement with other private companies to avoid a similar experience.
"It will be better if we stick to our constitution which says the state has authority over managing public necessities. Any cooperation could only be agreed under the condition that private companies are not involved in setting up policies."
PDAM's management should be reorganized so the water supply is managed without any interference, he said.
The management of Kati explained in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post yesterday that all water bills were paid into an independent bank account, which was established by PDAM and Kati and administered jointly by ABN Amro and BNI 46 banks.
"Kati does not have direct access to these funds and the account is fully auditable. No money has improperly been removed by Kati," John Hurcom, Kati's managing director, said.
Hurcom said Kati had invested more than Rp 30 billion since it signed the contract and had recently approved plans for an additional Rp 300 billion this year. (ind)