PT Palma Pertiwi Makmur Denies Receiving State Budget Funds for Food Security
The management of PT Palma Pertiwi Makmur (PPM) held a press conference as an exercise of its right of reply against a series of negative issues and reports concerning the company.
The event, held at Menara Palma in Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Saturday (14/8), featured Haryanto Mangundihardjo, S.H., Head of Corporate Legal at Palma Pertiwi Makmur, and Teguh Adi Nugroho, Corporate Secretariat of PPM.
Haryanto, who is called Arya, asserted that accusations of receiving Rp350 billion in state budget funds (APBN) and collecting capital from regional contractors were false and did not correspond to the facts.
“We are holding this press conference to fulfil our right of reply regarding the many reports circulating about PT Palma Pertiwi Makmur. There are several reports that convey things that do not correspond to the existing facts,” said Arya, as quoted from a press release received on Sunday (16/8).
Haryanto emphasised that PT Palma Pertiwi Makmur is a purely private company operating in the field of national food and energy sovereignty.
The company, he said, has never received any allocation of government funds or state budget funds in any form.
“We are truly purely private. So what has been reported in the media that we received Rp350 billion in state budget funds is untrue and highly inaccurate,” said Arya during the press conference.
He also clarified allegations regarding the collection of money from the public and third parties in the name of PT PPM for the implementation of regional projects.
He revealed that the problem arose due to the actions of unscrupulous regional partners who operated outside the company’s authority and operational standards.
“Some of our partners in the regions turned out not to match their capabilities, resulting in the collection of money from third parties in the name of PT Palma Pertiwi Makmur. We have never condoned this and never permitted it,” he stressed.
He added that the Work Orders (SPK) issued by PT PPM are only intended for infrastructure development partners. Meanwhile, for regional partnerships, the appointments are not accompanied by the authority to collect or receive funds from any party. All ongoing food security projects are confirmed to be 100 percent sourced from the company’s internal investment.
On the same occasion, Teguh Adi Nugroho, Corporate Secretariat of PPM, recounted one example of a case that occurred in West Sumatra. An unscrupulous holder of a provincial-level decree (SK) or assignment letter collected funds from local contractors at the stage of preparing new land that was actually still in the preparation phase.
“They had already recruited contractors whom we ourselves did not know about. This news had been resolved, but it has resurfaced. So we are confused about what to do,” said Teguh.
Teguh added that PT PPM was originally named Palma Riau Industries in 2008, before changing its name to PT Palma Pertiwi Makmur in 2019.
Currently, PT PPM is focusing on exploring cooperation with relevant ministries, such as the Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration as well as the Ministry of Social Affairs, to support the national food security programme through farmer mentoring patterns and corporate absorption of harvests.