Indications of graft at plantation companies
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
A day after naming 16 state-owned enterprises he said were riddled with graft, State Minister of State Enterprises Sugiharto plans to put the spotlight on 15 more SOEs, most of them in plantation.
Speaking after a meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla on Friday, Sugiharto said Thursday's announcement of the 16 companies was just the tip of the iceberg as far as corruption in state enterprises went.
"That announcement was just a start. Corruption occurs in all state enterprises, and just now I have received reports that many state plantation companies are also riddled with such practices," Sugiharto said.
There were 15 state plantation companies -- PT Perkebunan Nusantara I through XIV and PT Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia -- that would be included on the list of the most corrupt state enterprises, he said. These 15 companies have assets totaling more than Rp 15 trillion (US$1.59 billion).
Sugiharto named the first 16 companies based on audit report by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) and the State Development Comptroller (BPKP), with the result being forwarded to the prosecutors and police.
"Should the report and investigations into the executives (of the 16 firms) prove that they are guilty, I won't hesitate to dismiss them immediately. It is part of the president's instruction to combat rampant corruption within state enterprises," Sugiharto said.
On Thursday, the Office of State Minister of State Enterprises reported to the House of Representatives strong indications of corruption at 16 state enterprises, including five publicly listed firms: Bank Mandiri, Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Bank Negara Indonesia, PT Perusahaan Gas Negara and PT Indofarma.
In a separate event, Sugiharto explained that corruption at state enterprises was mostly in the form of "improper procurements" and dishonest transactions, which had caused massive losses to the state and lowered the companies' performances.
As of last year, there were a total of 158 state firms with a combined asset value of Rp 1,200 trillion.
Most of the companies have been poorly managed for a long time and suffered from very low rates of return on investments and equity due to the intervention of vested political interests. Unscrupulous politicians are known to divert revenues from the firms into the coffers of political parties.
In a related move, BPK chairman Anwar Nasution said the agency had submitted audit reports on high-profile corruption cases at five state institutions to the government's newly established anticorruption team -- consisting of officials from the Attorney General's Office, the National Police and the BPKP.
Anwar said among the urgent institutions to be investigated, as ordered by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, were state social security firm PT Jamsostek, Bank Mandiri, state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina and the Ministry of Health.
Sources at the BPK said that these institutions were found to have allegedly misused state funds worth a combined Rp 3 trillion. (002)
I-box State firms financial performance (in billions of rupiah)
2001 2002 2003 2004*
Firms 150 158 157 158 Assets 810.419 935.587 1,163.644 1,161.177 Liabilities 678.783 662.539 761.507 780.118 Equities 129.683 269.621 397.198 391.781 Revenues 215.467 238.048 464.205 484.377 Profit 18.448 25.665 25.611 29.428
Return on assets 2.28% 2.74% 2.20% 2.14% Return on equity 14.82% 9.52% 6.45% 6.36%
Firms recorded losses 48 firms 70 firms 47 firms 28 firms
* Unaudited Source: Office of the State Ministry of State Enterprises