Pertamina scams could cause Rp 191 billion loss

Pertamina scams could cause Rp 191 billion loss

JAKARTA (JP): Evidence of corruption uncovered by the
Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) at state oil and gas
company Pertamina during the January-November period could
inflict an Rp 191 billion (US$24.5 million) loss on the state,
Minister of Mines and Energy Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said here on
Friday.

Kuntoro said that he had ordered the ministry's Inspector-
General Muzani Syukur to investigate the matter further.

"We shall take punitive measures against those who are found
to be guilty. They might be either reprimanded or fired," Kuntoro
said in a weekly press conference.

Kuntoro said the evidence related to new cases of corruption,
not contracts and projects linked to former president Soeharto
and his family and cronies that were recently purged from the
company's books.

Pertamina announced recently that it had identified 159
companies linked to Soeharto and the friends and families of
senior government officials which received contracts from
Pertamina through collusion and nepotism.

Pertamina has annulled, renegotiated and retendered most of
these contracts, bringing the company estimated savings of Rp
313.3 billion (US64.7 million) per year.

BPKP also found evidence of corruption at the state
electricity company PLN and the state coal mining company PT
Bukit Asam over the same period. It said that corruption at these
two companies had resulted in losses of Rp 29.7 billion and Rp
28.4 billion respectively.

Corrupt activities were also uncovered at publicly listed
state mining company PT Aneka Tambang and state gas distribution
company PGN, neither of which were previously renowned for graft
and embezzlement.

According to BPKP, corruption at Aneka Tambang and PGN had
cost Rp 53 million and Rp 224 million respectively in the first
11 months of this year.

BPKP also said that mines and energy ministry officials across
the country had embezzled Rp 88.1 million out of the state budget
over the same period.

Officials in the ministry's directorates general of mining,
and geology and mineral resources allegedly embezzled Rp 9.7
million and Rp 3 million respectively in the first 11 months of
the year, while officials in the ministry's provincial offices
stole Rp 75.3 million out of state budget funds under their
control.

Priyo Budi Santoso of the ruling Golkar faction in the House
of Representatives said he was surprised at the comptrollers
findings.

"Many people, including myself, felt genuinely relieved by
Pertamina's efforts to root out corruption, collusion and
nepotism," Priyo said.

"But, the BPKP findings are really disappointing. I deplore
the fact that many people in the company are still knee-deep in
corruption," Priyo told The Jakarta Post.

Priyo said the findings would encourage the House to
strengthen its control over the operations of Pertamina and its
contractors to prevent corruption seeping even deeper into the
workings of the country's oil and gas sector. (jsk)