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.