KPU faces uncertainty in ballot box production

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.