Joop promises open tender for 2 million telephone lines
Joop promises open tender for 2 million telephone lines
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications
Joop Ave vows that the tender for the installation of two million
telephone lines in the coming five years will be open and
transparent.
"Investors should not be worried about the tender because we
are committed to open and transparent tenders for
telecommunications projects," he said early this week in response
to criticism that the government was not transparent in its
offering of telecommunications projects.
During the Sixth Five Year Development Plan (Repelita VI)
period, the government has targeted the construction of five
million new telephone lines with total investments of Rp 15
trillion. Of the targeted new lines, three million will be
installed by the state-owned telecommunications company, PT
Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom). The installation of the other
two million lines will be offered to private investors.
A total of 150 consortia have applied for the construction of
the two million lines but the government has yet to announce
which of them qualifies for the project.
Secretary-General of the Ministry of Tourism, Post and
Telecommunications, Jonathan Parapak, who is also chairman of the
bidding committee, was quoted on Tuesday by Antara as saying that
the committee has delayed its plan to announce which consortia
will be qualified for the telecommunications projects because it
has not finished evaluating all of the applicants.
"We actually planned to announce the results of the evaluation
on Aug. 10," he said. "But now, we will likely not be able to
announce them until after Aug. 18."
Besides officials of the Ministry of Tourism, Post and
Telecommunications, the bidding committee also involves officials
from the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), the
Office of the Coordinating Minister for Economy and Finance, and
the Ministry of Finance.
Director General of Post and Telecommunications Djakaria
Purawidjaja said last month that the government would probably
choose only five of the 150 consortia to construct the
telecommunication projects.
Muhammad Buang, a member of the House of Representatives, said
he welcomed Minister Joop's commitment to holding open tenders
for telecommunications projects during this Repelita VI period.
"But it must be proven in its implementation," he said. (rid)