Govt to revise arms purchase procedures

Tiarma Siboro and Imanuddin Razak, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The government is streamlining the procedures for procuring arms and will exclude the Indonesian Military (TNI) from the process in a bid to avoid corruption and mark-ups.

Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono met with TNI commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto and all three chiefs of staff on Wednesday for initial talks on the plan, which will only take effect three or four years down the line.

Juwono said the first step he would take would be to identify all suppliers and contractors of the military before starting an investigation into allegations of mark-ups in the purchase of military equipment in the past.

Military equipment purchases have for the last few decades involved contractors in line with a presidential decree on public procurements that was issued in the 1970s.

"The government has pledged to continue promoting accountability, transparency and efficiency as part of the effort to create good governance. I'm now reviewing the long-standing procedures for procuring military equipment in response to suspicions that they are prone to corruption and mark-ups," Juwono told The Jakarta Post .

Currently dozens of contractors have personal access to certain officials either in the defense ministry or TNI headquarters, and use these contacts to lobby for procurement projects without going through a bidding process, Juwono said.

He added he had asked the ministry's secretary-general and inspectorate general to produce the names of both domestic and foreign contractors and find out whether or not they had good reputations.

"Only after we have their names will we be able to continue with the investigation into alleged mark-ups, which it is believed have been going on for decades," Juwono said..

Juwono, however, would not elaborate on whether the military officers or state officials involved would also be investigated.

The TNI has been persistently demanding an increase in government spending on defense to help improve the welfare of soldiers and modernize its largely outdated equipment.

The latest example of a controversial arms procurement was the purchase of four Russian-made Sukhoi fighters and two Mi-35 assault helicopters in 2002, which excluded the defense ministry even though this is required by the Defense Law.

"We are going to build a clean system in which the purchase of military equipment should be discussed here," Juwono said, referring to his ministry.