Minister sued over contract revocation

JAKARTA (JP): A businessman has filed a lawsuit against Minister of Mines and Energy I.B. Sudjana and several of his staff over the cancellation of a contract to develop and manage an office center on Jl. Thamrin, Central Jakarta.

PT Patrabuild Indonesia president Syarief Tando said the first hearing of his lawsuit would take place today at the Central Jakarta Courthouse.

Aside from the minister, Tando also sued the general secretariat of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the ministry's directorate general of oil and gas, a consortium called PT Bhakti Patra Nusantara and the welfare foundation owned by the state- owned oil and gas company Pertamina.

Tando said all the parties had caused Patrabuild to lose its US$100 million contract to build and operate the Migas Center on a 127,708 square meter plot on Jl. Thamrin.

The center was designed to consist of several high rise towers to be occupied by mine and oil companies and the ministry's director general of oil and gas.

He said under the contract, which was signed by him and the then director general of oil and gas Suyitno Patmosukismo in 1993, Patrabuild was given the right to operate the center for 30 years before transferring it to the ministry.

But the ministry revoked the contract in 1995 and transferred it to PT Bhakti Patra Nusantara which is affiliated with Pertamina.

Tando said the contract was revoked after development was underway and he had tried to negotiate a compensation package for his losses.

But, he said the negotiations did not bear fruit.

"That's why I finally decided to seek a legal solution in court," he said, adding the contract's revocation violated Indonesian law and his legal rights.

Tando's team of lawyers include Lelyana Santosa and Todung Mulya Lubis. (jsk)