Ministry asks Gatari to return its helicopters
Ministry asks Gatari to return its helicopters
JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Forestry and Plantations has
demanded that PT Gatari, an air charter company owned by former
president Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra
return the ministry's eight helicopters by the end of this year,
a senior official said.
The ministry's secretary-general, Oetomo, said on Friday that
Gatari had agreed to return five of the helicopters later this
month.
The returned helicopters will be kept at the Atang Senjaya Air
Base in Bogor, West Java, he said.
The remaining three helicopters cannot be returned immediately
because Gatari had leased them to other companies, he said.
"But the three choppers should be returned no later than the
end of this year," he said
The Ministry of Forestry and Plantations has terminated its
contracts with Tommy's Gatari as part of the government's
campaign to eliminate business dealings with companies owned by
the children of former president Soeharto and his friends.
Many of the deals were obtained largely as a result of
political connections, and not through competitive bidding.
The ministry will employ Air Force personnel to fly the
helicopters.
Oetomo said that in the 1989/1990 fiscal year, the ministry
bought 12 helicopters from state aircraftmaker PT Industry
Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN), comprising 11 NBO 102
helicopters and one fixed wing Skyliner helicopter, aimed at
improving the ministry's operations.
Two of the helicopters were given to the National Police, one
crashed in 1991 and the remaining one is in use at the Atang
Senjaya Air Base.
In 1991, the ministry signed a contract with Gatari to jointly
operate the helicopters.
Oetomo said there was no specific explanation as to why the
ministry chose Gatari to operate its helicopter.
"Initially, the reason was to operate the helicopters more
efficiently and effectively, but actually it is not efficient and
not effective at all," Oetomo said.
Oetomo said that employing Air Force personnel to operate and
handle the maintenance would be cheaper than using Gatari.
He added that the ministry was considering selling some of the
helicopters. (gis)