Jet financing plan gets mixed responses
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto's "call" for the public to buy shares in PT Dua Satu Tiga Puluh (DSTP), the company he set up to develop a national passenger jet, is greeted with mixed responses.
Positive responses poured in on Saturday from government officials and state-owned companies. Cautious reactions came from legislators and opposition was voiced by a non-governmental organization.
South Kalimantan governor Gusti Hasan Aman is poised to order all regents and mayors in the area to find ways of implementing the President's instruction.
"We will make the arrangement as soon as the central government has issued the directives," Gusti Hasan was quoted as saying by the Antara news agency.
The President met last week with regents and mayors from across Indonesia who are expected to coordinate their respective areas in raising funds for the US$2 billion jet project of state aircraft maker IPTN.
Soeharto, who is president commissioner of DSTP, said that the government can raise the money if every Indonesian citizen contributes Rp 5,000 (US$2.10).
The governor said the public should not miss the chance to own shares as "many" foreign ventures are also interested.
"People in South Kalimantan should be ready to partly shoulder the project. You journalists can also buy the shares if you guys are interested," he said.
Meanwhile, 21 state-owned companies under the Ministry of Industry and Trade have pledged to buy Rp 70 billion (about US$30 million) worth of shares in the company.
Aidil Juza, secretary-general of the ministry, said Saturday that the companies were committed to helping production of the twin-engine short-distance 130-passenger N-2130 commuter jet.
Aidil said that the companies planning to buy shares are financially "healthy". He declined to name the firms.
State-owned companies under the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Forestry also plan to buy DSTP shares.
Strong opposition to the fund-raising scheme was voiced over the weekend by the Indonesian Democracy Movement (PaDI).
PaDI chairman Deni A. Dwiyanto said the plan could trigger public unrest and "obscure the legal certainty of people's property".
Deni said the plan runs counter to the Constitution, which states that fund-raising for state projects shall be regulated by law.
Meanwhile, House of Representatives members called on local administrations over the weekend not to force the people to buy shares, saying that President Soeharto had made an appeal, not an order, to the public to buy shares.
Andi Matalatta, a House member from the ruling Golkar party, was quoted by Kompas as saying that the US$2 billion target should be achieved through voluntary rather than coercive means.
House member Oediyanto from the Armed Forces faction pointed out that the government should make sure that the fund-raising does not violate any laws.
"Otherwise, any legal problems that arise later could be difficult to handle," he said. (pan)