Laksamana appoints new IBRA deputies

Laksamana appoints new IBRA deputies

Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State Minister for State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi has named
three new deputy chairmen at the Indonesian Bank Restructuring
Agency (IBRA) as part of a major shake-up in the high profile
agency.

IBRA spokesman Suryo Susilo confirmed on Tuesday the
appointments with the official swearing-in ceremony scheduled for
Wednesday.

"Pak Syaf has proposed the names of deputies, specialist
advisors and directors to the minister. And today the minister
gave his approval," Suryo told a small group of reporters late in
the evening.

The Office of the State Minister for State Enterprises
oversees IBRA.

Suryo added that all the new faces came from within the
agency.

The new deputy chairmen are Taufik M. Ma'ruf, Mohammad
Sjahrial and Yushak Kazan, who will take charge of Assets
Management Investment (AMI), Assets Management Credit (AMC) and
Risks Management (RM) respectively.

I Nyoman Sender, who was previously deputy chairman for AMC,
has been appointed as the deputy chairman for Bank Restructuring
Agency (BRU), as Dasa Sutanto and Soebowo Musa -- the previous
deputies for AMI and BRU -- will be filling new positions as IBRA
specialist advisors.

The Administration Support deputy will still by Junianto Tri
Priyono.

Rumors of a major shake-up in the agency were rife right after
the change in IBRA's top post two weeks ago, which saw Syafruddin
Temenggung appointed as the new chairman of the agency, replacing
I Putu Gede Ary Suta.

Elsewhere, Suryo said that Robertus Biliteus and Harry Arief
Supardi had been named to head the newly-established Directorate
of Legal Management and Directorate of Financial Management
respectively.

Soebowo Musa and Hery Wahyu Setiarso, previously deputy
chairmen, have been appointed specialist advisors.

IBRA, set up in early 1998, plays a strategic role in the
efforts to restore the country's economy as it took over more
than Rp 600 trillion worth of various types of assets from the
then collapsing banking sector and indebted bank owners.

The agency is mandated to restructure these assets and sell
them to raise cash to help cover the state budget deficit.

The huge value of the assets managed by the agency has made it
prone to political interference as reflected in the frequent
changes in the agency's top post. Syafruddin is IBRA's seventh
chairman in four years.

IBRA has been criticized for its slow progress in selling off
assets and restructuring the banking sector.

By the end of last year, the agency had only raised around Rp
73 trillion in cash.

Syafruddin admitted that the agency's progress in its attempts
to restructure the banking sector had been lagging behind, thus
jeopardizing its main function as the agent of the country's
economic recovery.

The fact that there are only 21 months left for the agency to
finish its work makes it more difficult to get the job done.

IBRA's mandate expires in February 2004.

Politicking is believed to be one of the main reasons behind
IBRA's slow progress in restructuring the banking sector.