Mar'ie denies transfers to ministers illegal

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad said yesterday the transfer of state revenue, outside the state budget, to ministers' bank accounts was legal if it was based on government regulations.

But Mar'ie conceded the government must improve its budgetary discipline to keep development on track.

"We agree with the House of Representatives that budgetary discipline needs to be improved, but it will take time," he told a hearing of the House Budgetary Commission.

Mar'ie was responding to questions from House members who said the direct transfer of state funds into several ministers' accounts was detrimental to the budgetary discipline campaign.

At an earlier hearing, legislator Tadjudin Noer Said from the Golkar faction questioned Mar'ie about the transfer of an estimated Rp 288.4 billion (US$125.39 million) from the state- owned coal miner PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam to the minister of mines and energy's personal bank account.

Earlier media reports disclosed that Ambyo Mangunwidjaja, who was the president of Tambang Batubara until August 1994, had received a letter from Minister of Mines and Energy I.B. Sudjana in 1994 ordering him to transfer Rp 50 billion from Tambang Batubara to his bank account.

Ambyo said Sudjana had stated in his letter that the money would be used for a revolving fund to improve the welfare of the ministry's staff.

Ambyo said he transferred Rp 40 billion.

Tadjudin asked why the funds were not transferred directly to the treasury, as stipulated by a presidential instruction issued earlier this year.

Bacelius Ruru, director general for state enterprises, said yesterday the Rp 288.4 billion came from the government's share of the output from Tambang Batubara's private coal mining contractors.

The share, according to the mining contracts, amounts to 13.5 percent of each contractor's total output.

"A presidential decree states that private contractors (collaborating with Tambang Batubaru) must set aside 13.5 percent of their coal production for Tambang Batubara," he told the hearing.

Ruru explained that the funds were used to finance coal-mining development, exploration and exploitation activities and to control the cooperation agreement between Tambang Batubara and its contractors.

He said Rp 82.4 billion of the funds had been used to develop coal briquettes, which was approved by the Ministry of Finance.

"As of October, the funds from Tambang Batubara's contracts with its partners had reached Rp 288.4 billion," he said.

But he did not shed any light on the Rp 50 billion transfer to the minister of mines and energy's account.

Legislators also questioned Mar'ie about similar findings at the Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications.

Tadjudin said local governments had been ordered to transfer 2 percent of regional development taxes on hotels and restaurants to the minister of tourism, post and telecommunications' bank account.

"All these examples show a lack of budgetary discipline. I think all kinds of levies, including funds from concession fees, should be accounted for in the state budget. The government should have prudent budgetary discipline," he said.

Mar'ie said the tourism, post and telecommunications minister used the funds from regional development taxes to promote tourism, which helped curb the current account deficit.

On levies imposed by state firms, Mar'ie said they were legitimate because they were regulated by the government.

"The levies are recorded and audited by the Development Finance Comptroller," he said.

Mar'ie acknowledged that some state enterprises, such as PT Angkasa Pura and PT Pelabuhan Indonesia under the Ministry of Transportation, regulated their own levies.

"It is impossible for the government to book these firms' revenues as state receipts because such an accounting rule would hinder the companies' operational and managerial flexibility," he said. (pwn)