Money talks in April ballot printing contracts

Money talks in April ballot printing contracts

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta

Officials from the General Elections Commission (KPU) argued in
April that they lacked the money to better inform the public on
how to properly cast their votes in the legislative election,
which may in part explain the fact that spoiled ballots accounted
for some 11 million (9 percent) of the 125 million votes cast.

However, over the last few months it has been suggested that a
lack of funding was not actually to blame. In fact, it is argued
that there was originally plenty of money, but lack of due
diligence in the selection of firms to print the ballot papers --
not to mention suspected corruption and collusion -- inflicted
losses on the state of billions of rupiah -- money that the KPU
desperately needed to properly manage the elections.

A senior executive with one of the winning bidders of a
printing contract told The Jakarta Post that his firm still had
to pay bribes to the KPU officials in charge of ballot printing
even after the commission had made public the results of the
poll.

The executive, who requested anonymity, said bribes were
necessary to ensure timely payment from the KPU for the printing
work.

"We just gave those in charge of the ballot printing extra
money. It's common," he said, but refused to reveal the amount of
money involved.

The KPU selected 17 firms to print the 660 million ballot
papers for the April 5 election. Its final selection was supposed
to have been based on the printing machine capacity
specifications submitted by the bidders. However, the commission
failed to conduct any checks on the ground.

The firms bidding for KPU contracts also tried to beat the
competition by fabricating the data they submitted to the
commission.

In the end, many of winning bidders turned out to be incapable
of meeting the printing deadlines, which caused chronic delays in
the distribution of ballot papers. In some areas, the KPU had to
delay the elections due to the late arrival of election
materials, such as ballot papers and ink.

An investigation by the Post reveals that at least three firms
-- Winkarya Lintas Persada, Jenakarya Adi Indah and Dwi Rama --
out of the 17 winning firms did not have the necessary printing
machinery, and had inflated their costs.

A broker from another firm found to have subcontracted its
printing work also acknowledged that bribery was involved in
oiling the tender process.

"It's a common practice to cut through the red tape with money
in this country. Nobody can deny it," he told the Post.

Earlier, an executive of another winning firm said that he had
paid hundreds of millions of rupiah to those in charge of the
ballot paper printing tender.

According to him, all of the printing firms had employed three
approaches in attempting to win the KPU contracts -- approaching
KPU members, the KPU secretariat, and the KPU logistics bureau.

Yanto Lee, director of Winkarya, one of the successful
printing companies, denied suggestions that his company was able
to print ballot papers for Rp 25 per color sheet, much lower than
the Rp 45.8 the KPU had determined.

"We can print the ballot papers for between Rp 50 and Rp 60
per color sheet," he said, stressing that his firm had never
submitted fabricated data on its printing capabilities to the
KPU.

He admitted that Winkarya had subcontracted out its printing
work to another firm, Pentagraph, but said that this had been
done with the KPU's consent.

Jenakarya director Ave Prabawa said his firm's name had been
used by a broker when bidding for a ballot paper printing
contract for the legislative elections. In return, Jenakarya was
paid Rp 15 million.

"We didn't print the ballot papers and we don't know which
firms did," he said.

Meanwhile, Edward, the production head of Dwi Rama, denied a
report that his company did not have access to four color
printing machines, unlike what it had told the KPU.

He said the four color machines were owned by relatives of Dwi
Rama's owner, who worked together with Dwi Rama.

KPU member Mulyana W. Kusumah, who chaired the ballot paper
tender committee, said he had not seen any KPU officials
colluding with printing firms, or helping them win contracts.

He conceded that the commission had been unable to check out
all 17 of the winning firms and their facilities, arguing that
the KPU was understaffed and short on time.

To prevent a repeat performance, the KPU decided to appoint
printing firms directly for the July 5 presidential election.

Regarding the possibility of overpricing, KPU tender
consultant Sentot Marjuki said the commission had made its own
calculations and come up with a price of Rp 275 for six color
sheets -- or Rp 45.8 per sheet -- for the printing of ballot
papers of 40 cm x 65 cm and 55 cm x 80.5 cm. He claimed the KPU's
price estimate was actually low.

However, a number of the winning firms said they could print
six-color ballot papers for between Rp 150 and Rp 180, or between
Rp 25 and Rp 30 per color sheet.

The cost of printing 660 million ballot papers, according to
the KPU's figure of Rp 275 per color sheet, comes to Rp 184
billion.

However, if the price was Rp 180 per color sheet -- the
highest figure quoted by the firms -- the cost would come to some
Rp 120.5 billion. Thus, the potential losses to the state amount
to Rp 63.5 billion.

The KPU, according to observers, enjoys the crucial attribute
of being trusted by the public at large; its members, many of
whom are university lecturers, are quite likely to be regarded as
inexperienced -- but not corrupt. A further probe into the
selection of printing firms for the legislative elections would
help ensure that this trust is maintained.

Investigation findings

1. Winkarya Lintas Persada

- Printer specification listed as 4-color, but a check

revealed it to be 2-color

- Submitted price of Rp 25 per color for 6-color ballots

2. Dwi Rama

- Printer specs listed as 4-color, but a check revealed it

did not have color printers

3. Jenakarya Adi Indah

- under the "Specifications for printers and price" section,
it had

entered: "Refer to PT Nusantara Lestari"

Source: The Jakarta Post

The above report was made possible with the support of the
Coalition for a Free and Fair Election.

The writer is a journalist of The Jakarta Post.