Jet financing plan gets mixed responses

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)