Govt to revise arms purchase procedures
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soldiers and modernize its largely outdated equipment.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.