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)