Four printing consortia face KPU sanctions
Moch. N. Kurniawan and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The General Elections Commission (KPU) said on Tuesday it would kick out ballot paper tender winners for allegedly subcontracting their job without the commission's consent.
"This is a violation of the contract. We shall dismiss them from the printing process," KPU chairman Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin said on Tuesday.
KPU is also waiting until Thursday to decide whether to offer the opportunity to firms that could print quickly, including members of the Newspaper Publishers Union (SPS), to participate in ballot paper printing, which has been delayed for four weeks due to the late completion of templates.
Nazaruddin refused to comment on possible involvement of KPU members and officials in the contract violation.
KPU member Mulyana W. Kusumah said on Saturday the commission had found four companies that subcontracted their printing job to other firms without approval from KPU.
The companies are identified only by their acronyms JT, JAI, WLP and DR. Documents obtained by The Jakarta Post revealed the companies had dubious financial capability and tax payment records.
However, KPU selected them anyway from 18 companies that won the tender to print 660 million ballot papers. One of the firms withdrew.
According to KPU data, JT has been ordered to print 12.3 million papers, JAI 9.1 million, WLP 8.3 million and DR 12.9 million.
KPU has demonstrated a poor ability to organize the tender from the outset.
In the Rp 311 billion ballot box tender, Survindo Indah Prestasi was declared the winner, even though it had a record of weak financial ability, with sales of only Rp 13 billion in 2002 and no sales between January and August 2003. Later on, the company failed to produce ballot boxes on schedule, forcing the KPU to cut the contract and give it to second-ranked PT Tjakrindo Mas and third-ranked CV Almas.
In the Rp 40 billion indelible ink tender, six of eight bidders that reached the final stage had recorded low or zero sales in the last two years.
In the Rp 13 billion ballot paper tender, 11 of 21 bidders were financially weak.
Separately, KPU member Mulyana W. Kusumah, chairman of the ballot paper printing tender, said if the printing had not shown good progress by March 4, KPU would turn to firms that could print quickly, including those in SPS.
"As a possible solution, it is OK," he said.
With regard to election security, Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto asked on Tuesday the National Police to involve soldiers from the start.
"The police will be on the front line, while the military will provide backup. I hope the National Police leadership will deploy police and TNI personnel together, because extinguishing a fire is more difficult than preventing one," Endriartono said on the sidelines of a seminar on security threats ahead of the election.
Particularly in war-torn Aceh, where the military is fighting rebels, Endriartono said TNI would keep away from ballot boxes.
He also reiterated his promise to help the KPU distribute election materials across the nation.