Money talks in April ballot printing projects

Moch. N. Kurniawan Jakarta

Alleged corruption, collusion and nepotism in the printing of ballots for the legislative election are unraveling as the General Elections Commission (KPU) prepares for the country's first direct presidential election, which falls in less than two weeks.

A senior executive of a winning company said they had to provide "fees" to KPU members in charge of ballot printing even after the commission had made public the results of the April 5 legislative election.

The executive, who requested anonymity, said extra fees were necessary to speed up the payment process from the KPU for the printing job.

"Just give those in charge of the ballot printing extra money, it is common," he said, but did not reveal the sum that exchanged hands.

A broker from another firm found to have subcontracted its printing job, also acknowledged that money was involved in speeding up the tender process.

"It is common practice to speed up the bureaucratic process with money in this country. Nobody can deny it," he told The Jakarta Post.

The broker said that he was merely aiding the printing firm he represented in order to win a tender.

Earlier, another executive of a winning printing company stressed that he had given hundreds of millions of rupiah to those KPU members in charge of the ballot paper tender.

According to him, all bidding printing firms had three approaches for lobbying their case -- KPU members, its KPU secretariat and its logistics bureau.

Firms bidding in KPU tenders also tried to outdo their competition by manipulating the data they submitted to the commission on printing firms.

An investigation by the Post revealed that at least six of the 17 companies that won the KPU's printing project did not have the appropriate machines and set a high printing cost.

The KPU picked 17 of more than 80 firms to print the 660 million ballot papers for the April 5 election. Its final selection was, however, based on documented machine specifications submitted by tender participants, and the commission did not conduct any field checks.

The documents only stated that those printing firms that had met tender requirements and the KPU's prices were declared winners.

Many tender winners, however, were unable to meet their printing deadlines, causing a delay 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 ballots and ink.

To prevent a repeat experience, the KPU has decided to appoint printing companies directly for the July 5 presidential election.

However, KPU member Mulyana W. Kusumah, chairman of the ballot paper printing tender, said he had not observed any officials acting with an intent to strike a deal with printing firms and so help them win the tenders.

He conceded that the commission was unable to check all 17 winning firms and their facilities, as they were understaffed and short of time.

He also stressed that the ballot paper committee had taken full responsibility for all decisions it took at that time.

Regarding the possibility of overpricing, KPU tender consultant Sentot Marjuki said the commission had conducted its own calculations that resulted in a price of Rp 275 for six colors -- or Rp 45.8 per color -- for printing ballots of between 40 cm x 65 cm to 55 cm x 80.5 cm, or plano size, and that the KPU's price was low.

However, several winning companies could print six-color ballots for Rp 150 to Rp 180, or Rp 25 to Rp 30 per color.

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Questionable firms in ballot tender -------------------------------------------------------------- 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 check revealed it

was not a color printer

3. Jenakarya Adi Indah

- under specifications for printers and price, it had

entered: "refer to PT Nusantara Lestari"

4. Balai Pustaka

- noted on tender document that it only accepted print

orders for books

5. Pebea Tata Mandiri

- corporate address leads to a residential house

6. Swadharma (under Peruri group bid)

- noted it would only accept orders on condition that it

would supply the plain paper -------------------------------------------------------------- Source: The Jakarta Post