KPU, bidders agree on ballot printing price

KPU, bidders agree on ballot printing price

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The General Elections Commission (KPU) and 14 of 18 bidders have
agreed on ballot printing price of Rp 275 per ballot, but the
commission has yet to announce the tender winner.

The agreement could pave the way for the printing of some 660
million ballots needed for the legislative election on April 5 to
choose members of the House of Representatives, provincial and
regental legislature members, and the Regional Representatives
Council.

"We have reached a deal with 14 firms to print the ballots,
but there is a size reduction for one type of ballot that could
save the state about Rp 17 billion," KPU member Mulyana W.
Kusumah said.

The rolled and sheet paper needed as material to print the
ballots would also increase by between 1,000 to 1,500 tons from
21,735 tons to meet the latest ballot demands, he said.

KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti warned that the logistics
for the election may become more difficult due to an increase in
the number of polling stations.

"The difficulty of the logistics is directly related to the
increase in the number of eligible voters," he said on Tuesday
evening.

Based on KPU data, the number of required ballot boxes will
rise from 2,194,155 to 2,446,505, with 249,657 boxes to be
imported from China by PT Tricipta Adimandiri.

The name of Tricipta emerged after Minister of Home Affairs
Hari Sabarno asked the KPU to consider importing ballot boxes
from China following a recent fiasco with the winner of the
ballot box tender, Survindo Indah Prestasi.

According to tax data obtained by The Jakarta Post, Tricipta
reported paying no sales or value added tax from 2002 to 2003.

The amount of indelible ink needed for the elections will rise
to over 1.2 million bottles from 1.15 million bottles due to the
increased number of polling stations.

KPU member Rusadi Kantaprawira, chairman of the ink tender,
said some 92,948 bottles of the ink would be produced locally,
with the remaining to be imported.

"They (local producers) will be given more of a chance to
participate in the next tender for the presidential election. In
this tender, they were too late in submitting their bids," he
said.

So far, two local producers have been approached by the KPU to
produce the indelible ink, Rusadi said.

The number of polling booths will also increase from 2,596,459
2,914,314 units, with the production so far in the hands of PT
Elite Metal Work and PT Tjakrindo Mas.

On Tuesday, a number of Muslim, Christian, Buddhist and Hindu
religious leaders promised to help promote peaceful elections.

"It is our duty to uphold the universal value of peace during
the 2004 elections," Natan Setiabudi from the Communion of
Churches in Indonesia said.