KPU faces uncertainty in ballot box production

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The completion of 2.19 million ballot boxes on time for the April 5 legislative election was still under doubt because of a shortage of aluminum, the General Elections Commission (KPU) admitted on Monday.

KPU head of logistics Chusnul Mar'iyah and deputy secretary general Sussongko Suhardjo confirmed new stocks of aluminum sheets for the boxes would be ready in early March. The KPU had earlier required the boxes to have been completed and distributed by Feb. 26.

"We will have another meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) to compile all data and resolve the problem," Chusnul said after meeting with aluminum producers and the two firms contracted to produce the boxes -- PT Survindo Indah Prestasi and PT Tjakrindo Mas.

Data obtained from KPU official Mulyana W. Kusumah showed 850 tons of new aluminum sheets would reach Survindo's factories by March 1. Survindo has to complete payments to the aluminum producers by Feb. 24.

The KPU had no data on how many aluminum sheets had been supplied to Tjakrindo, he said.

Mulyana said the KPU would pressure aluminum producers to complete the aluminum sheets by early or mid-February instead of early March.

Aluminum producers had so far insisted they could not meet the KPU's deadline to produce the sheets with their current capacities.

"If they can not produce the sheets in time to meet our requirements, they should subcontract producing the sheets to other firms that can do so," Mulyana said.

Four aluminum producers -- Starmas, Intibumi, Indoalun, and Alumindo -- are contracted to provide a total of 4,062 tons of aluminum sheets to Survindo, while Alumindo is to supply Tjakrindo with 2,700 tons of aluminum sheets.

Representatives from all four aluminum firms refused to comment.

Mochtar from Tjakrindo said his firm had paid for the 2,700 tons of aluminum sheets and he expected that Alumindo would fulfill its promise to provide the sheets in the first week of February.

Bambang Maryono, of Survindo, said his company had paid Rp 7.8 billion to the four aluminum producers. There were no longer financial difficulties paying the firms, he said.

However, a source in the meeting said Survindo still owed about Rp 17 billion to the four aluminum producers, resulting in a lack of cashflow which had hampered production.

Based on the KPU's data, as of Jan. 18, Survindo had produced 411,000 boxes, while Tjakrindo had completed over 200,000.

Survindo was announced in early November as the sole winner of the Rp 311 billion ballot box tender.

Survindo was supposed to produce some 925,000 boxes and Tjakrindo 210,000 boxes by Jan. 14 respectively.

But by late December the KPU had split off 40 percent of the 2.19 million ballot boxes production to Tjakrindo, ranked second in the tender, due to Survindo's failure to produce the ballot boxes on schedule.

The KPU promised to review the proportion in mid-January if both companies failed to meet their obligation.