Gen. Subagyo claims ABRI ventures benefit soldiers
Gen. Subagyo claims ABRI ventures benefit soldiers
BANDUNG (JP): Army Chief of Staff Gen. Subagyo Hadisiswoyo
vigorously defended on Monday the Armed Forces' business
ventures, contending that all profits went to improve military
personnel's welfare.
He cited how earnings from companies belonging to foundations
under the Armed Forces (ABRI) funded construction of housing for
soldiers. He spoke on the sidelines of a ceremony marking the
induction of Maj. Gen. Sumardi as chief of Army Training Center
(Kodiklat) to replace Lt. Gen. Luhut B. Pandjaitan.
He did not specify funding amounts, saying the amount allotted
for soldiers' welfare depended on the profit collected by the
foundations. The ventures are audited regularly, he added.
"Active soldiers are not allowed to do business, but they are
permitted to work proportionally in the foundations."
Subagyo stressed that the military abided by business rules
and did not curry favor to land contracts.
A military observer at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences
(LIPI), Indria Samego, said last month that ABRI as a state
institution was intrinsically precluded from involvement in the
business sector. He contended its actual predominance in the
realm over the last three decades damaged market mechanisms in
the national economy.
Harry Tjan Silalahi, a political expert from the Center for
Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), recommended in
October that the Armed Forces should be barred from business, its
personnel's wages increased as compensation for lost ventures.
Indria's new book on ABRI's business says 40 companies are
under the army's jurisdiction and 24 other enterprises, with
eight under the Air Force, Navy and National Police.
Some of the companies developed under the Army's Kartika Eka
Paksi Foundation are PT Aerokarto Indonesia, PT Asuransi Cigna
Indonesia, PT Cilegon Fabricators, PT Kayan River Indah Plywood,
PT Kultujaya Triusaha, PT Lukita Wahana Sari, PT Meranti Sakti
Indonesia, PT Panca Usaha Palopo plywood, PT Pondok Indah Padang
Golf, Bank Artha Graha and PT Private Development Finance.
Meanwhile, in Central Java's capital of Semarang, about 200
students grouped in People's Sovereignty Enforcement Forum staged
a demonstration outside the provincial legislature, demanding the
withdrawal of the military from the House of Representative.
They said members of the military should undergo an electoral
process for the legislature instead of the current allotment of
75 seats. (43/har/01)