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