Fit and proper?

Fit and proper?

The government has a new policy obligating all prospective
directors of state enterprises (BUMN) to undergo a fit and proper
test.

In addition to having managerial and technical skills, a
prospective director of a BUMN is expected to possess integrity
and a clean track record. In the era of reform, all BUMN
directors must be able to conform with the new and prevailing
conditions, which are different from the previous era. Before,
most BUMN came across as the headquarters of kleptomaniacs
because of the mismanagement of the BUMN, and it was believed
that most BUMN were full of corruption, collusion and nepotism
(KKN).

Theoretically, after Indonesia fully enters the reform era,
there will be no more KKN. However, nobody is able to guarantee
that Indonesia currently is free from KKN. The anti-KKN forces
will never be able to totally eradicate such practices -- only
the angel of death throwing all corruptors into hell could
achieve this.

Besides intensifying efforts to eradicate KKN within their
respective companies, the boards of directors of BUMN should be
receptive to constructive ideas from their managers and staff.

Nobody doubts that existing state enterprises would prefer to
reject the "frog-kick"-style of management, where they have to
simultaneously bow down to their superiors while conducting
hanky-panky among themselves.

The manager and senior staff of a company should be a kind of
think tank for their management. But if the board of directors
ignores them, it will be detrimental to human resources
development and this will not be conducive to the harmony and
atmosphere of the company.

We hope all state enterprises will perform well, particularly
in coping with the uncertainty of the country's economy.

HASAN BASRI MUCHTAR

Jakarta