Govt still waiting for Pertamina's graft probe
Govt still waiting for Pertamina's graft probe
JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Mines and Energy said on Monday
it was awaiting the results of the investigation by state oil and
gas company Pertamina into contracts worth more than Rp 10
billion (US$1.2 million) entered into by the company.
The ministry's secretary-general, Djoko Darmono, said the
ministry would send a letter to Pertamina in the near future
calling on the company to submit the results of its
investigation.
"We received a letter from Coordinating Minister of
Developmental Supervision and Administrative Reforms (Hartarto)
two weeks ago to ask about the results of the new investigations
into cases of KKN (corruption, collusion and nepotism) at the
ministry and state companies under the ministry's supervision,"
Djoko said.
"The results of Pertamina's investigation will become part of
our report to Pak Hartarto," Djoko said.
Pertamina president Martiono Hadianto promised earlier this
year to investigate all contracts worth more than Rp 10 billion
entered into by the company in an effort to eliminate corruption,
collusion and nepotism in the company.
He instructed his staff to check whether proper procedures
were followed in awarding the contracts and if fees charged to
Pertamina by contract holders were "reasonable".
"Proper procedures are not enough. All the contracts should
also quote reasonable prices," Martiono said last February.
Martiono became president of Pertamina in January 1999.
Pertamina announced last year it had discovered 159 contracts
entered into by the company with former president Soeharto's
children and associates.
There were indications Soeharto's children and associates
received the contracts through questionable business practices,
including corruption, collusion and nepotism, the company said.
Djoko said Pertamina had "taken action on" 157 of the
contracts and was still processing the remaining two contracts.
The actions taken by Pertamina included annulling or
renegotiating the contracts.
Pertamina claimed it would save $64.7 million plus another Rp
212 billion per year as a result of the annulments and
renegotiations. (jsk)