House urges government to prosecute those plundering Pertamina
House urges government to prosecute those plundering Pertamina
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The House of Representatives urged the Attorney General's
Office and the Police to push ahead with the investigation into
alleged corruption at state oil and gas company Pertamina,
involving some high-profile names.
The demand was made after the House special committee
delivered its findings on 11 corruption cases, which could
inflict some US$1.7 billion in financial losses to the state, at
a plenary session on Monday.
"The committee recommends that the government pursue the
investigation into the cases," chairman of the special committee
Emir Moeis told reporters.
The committee also urged the police to help the investigation
by taking necessary measures to bring the alleged corruptors in
for questioning.
The House's Special Committee on Pertamina was set up on Sept.
27, 2001 in a bid to recover state losses and punish corruptors.
According to Emir, the Attorney General's Office had shown
little cooperation with the committee, claiming they had lost
files on the cases.
Emir said the House would tightly supervise the government's
move in following up the cases as there had been signs that the
Attorney General's Office intended to stop the investigation.
Almost all the corruption cases are centered around family
members and cronies of the country's former president Soeharto.
Among the cases are the notorious technical assistance
contracts (TAC) for the Balongan and Cepu oil fields.
TAC contracts have had a bad reputation for often being abused
by politically well-connected businessmen to access the oil and
gas sector.
The Balongan case revolves around alleged corruption and mark-
up practices during the development of the oil field.
Suspects include former minister of mines and energy and
current deputy speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly
(MPR) Ginandjar Kartasasmita, former minister of mines and energy
I.B. Sudjana, late Pertamina president Faisal Abda'oe, and former
Pertamina director of processing Tabrani Ismail.
With regards to the TAC at Cepu, the House committee had
questioned the move by PT Humpuss Patragas, which obtained the
contract from Pertamina in 1990, to sell its hares to ExxonMobil
Oil. Humpuss is linked to the Soeharto family.
"The TAC was not supposed to be given to a foreign company.
Again, it shows the privileges Tommy was granted," Emir said,
referring to Soeharto's son Hutama 'Tommy' Mandala Putra, which
owned Humpuss.
Construction of fuel pipelines in Java by PT Triharsa Bimanusa
Tunggal (TBT) owned by some Soeharto family members had also
reportedly been tainted by corruption and nepotism.
TBT's director Rosano Barrack canceled the project halfway
through and asked for compensation amounting to $31.49 million
from Pertamina, which agreed to make the payment.
Despite the House findings, there is skepticism from industry
analysts that the cases can be resolved satisfactorily given the
questionable performance of the Attorney General's Office with
regard to graft cases involving powerful people.
For example, in the Balongan case, Ginandjar and Faisal had
been detained for questioning in 2001 but then the Attorney
General's Office ordered them released and claimed there was no
evidence found to link them to corruption.
In mid-2002, the Balongan case was reopened. Only Pertamina's
Tabrani has so far been detained. Faisal died just a couple of
months after the case was reopened. Meanwhile, the questioning of
Ginandjar is hampered by the fact that he must first be tried or
investigated by the military as he was an active military officer
at the time of the alleged wrongdoings.
Box
Pertamina cases involving state losses
1. TAC in four oil fields of Pendopo, Prabumulih, Jatibarang and
Bunyu. The case involved Ginandjar Kartasasmita, Tabrani Ismail
2. TAC in Balongan oil field.
Alleged mark-up in the development of Balongan Exor I oil
field causing potential losses of US$189.58 million to the state.
Suspects according to previous press reports include Ginandjar,
Faisal, and businessmen Erry Putra Oudang, Bing Cintamani, Sigit
Harjojudanto
3. Java fuel pipeline
Rosano Barack, director PT Triharsa Bimanusa Tunggal,
canceled the $300 million project and demanded compensation of
$31.49 million from Pertamina. Pertamina's Faisal agreed to pay.
His decision was deemed as a form of collusion.
Reports said that other suspects in the case include Siti
Hardiyanti Rukmana, Josep Dharma Brata and Anton Tjahjono.
4. Development of Seamless pipe factory PT Seamless Pipe
Indonesia Jaya
Committee finds no irregularities but the project caused
financial losses to the sate.
5. PT Tugu Pratama Insurance
The committee finds the insurance company, which was 20
percent owned by Pertamina pension fund had been channeling non-
budgetary funds to various social foundations linked to former
president Soeharto.