Gus Dur's healer suspected of involvement in tender

Gus Dur's healer suspected of involvement in tender

JAKARTA (JP): President of PT PLN Kuntoro Mangkusubroto
admitted on Tuesday that an associate of President Abdurrahman
Wahid's had asked him to back a consortium of companies in a bid
to win a US$74 million project of the state electricity company.

Speaking at hearing with the House of Representatives, Kuntoro
said the President's personal Chinese traditional healer, Daniel
Tay, came to see him in connection with a retender of the project
to build a power transmission network from the Paiton power plant
in East Java to West Java.

"I don't know his background, but I've meet him twice where he
was telling me something," Kuntoro said during a hearing with
House commission VIII, which oversees mines and energy.

When asked by House members what Kuntoro meant by "something",
he answered that Tay wanted the consortium he represented to win.

However, he did not mention the consortium's name and later
refused to answer reporters' questions regarding his meeting with
Daniel Tay.

Kuntoro was answering a question raised by Priyo Budi Santoso
of the Golkar Party during the hearing. Priyo said he had
information that Tay met Kuntoro as a middleman in the Shanghai
Trans consortium.

PLN opened the tendering in early 1997 and later named PT
Bukaka-Wijaya Karya-Mega Eltra, which is owned by former trade
and industry minister Yusuf Kalla.

But Bukaka's contract was revoked after an evaluation team set
up by the Ministry of Mines and Energy in January this year found
that the company was financially and technically unfit to develop
the project.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industry
Kwik Kian Gie ordered PLN in May to retender the project. A
number of local and foreign companies, including Shanghai Trans
consortium have expressed interest in joining the retender.

According to Kuntoro, Bukaka's financial condition might have
changed after it won the project. "The tender was held in 1997
and the assessment was made on its 1996 balance sheet," he said,
adding that the economic crisis in 1997 must have badly affected
the company.

Bukaka's tender came under spotlight last April when the
President dismissed two economics ministers under suspicion of
corruption, collusion and nepotism.

Abdurrahman mentioned then minister of industry and trade
Yusuf Kalla as being implicated in these alleged activities
during the Bukaka tender process. Yusuf has denied the charges.

The former minister further threatened to sue PLN over its
move to cancel the tender.

Kuntoro said that PLN would be ready to face the charges
leveled against it.

"It's his (Yusuf's) right to file a law suit against us," he
said.

In concluding the hearing, commission VIII said it
would summon the coordinating minister for the economy for
further clarification.(bkm)