PTP Agrintara may not refuse audit: Official
PTP Agrintara may not refuse audit: Official
JAKARTA (JP): A former director general of state-owned
enterprises yesterday confirmed that PTP Agrintara may not refuse
to be audited by the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP), even
though it is not a state firm.
Martiono Hadianto, the former director general, acknowledged
that PTP Agrintara is not a state firm, even though it is wholly-
owned by state plantation firms.
The company, however, may not reject an audit by BPKP because
the latter uses the same Indonesian accounting standards in its
accounting practices as those used by private public accountants.
"What's their reason to reject BPKP? What's the difference
between BPKP and a private accountant? They are the same in terms
of their accounting standards, because both of them use the
Indonesian accounting standards," Martiono said.
Martiono, who is presently an expert assistant to the minister
of finance, issued a letter -- dated Feb. 8, 1993 -- which is
currently being used by PTP Agrintara's president, Soeharno, in
support of his refusal of an audit by the comptroller because it
is not a state-owned company.
The letter states that PTP Agrintara is not a state firm and,
as a result, is not required to comply with Presidential Decree
No. 29/1984 and President Instruction No. 1/1988.
Both presidential rulings concern the state firms' procurement
procedures but not their accountability.
Martiono contended that although PTP Agrintara is not a state
firm, it may not refuse an audit by the government audit body.
Furthermore, he again stressed, the company is entirely owned by
state plantation firms.
"Even if PTP Agrintara has been audited by a public
accountant, for instance, it may not refuse another audit by
BPKP," Martiono said.
The comptroller's chairman, Soedarjono, sent letters, dated
May 3, 1996, to the coordinating minister for economy and finance
and the finance minister asking for their help in advising PTP
Agrintara, which had refused an audit since 1994, to comply with
the comptroller's request for an audit,
However, PTP Agrintara's shareholders meeting on Oct. 12,
1994, agreed to appoint public accounting company Prasetio Utomo
& Rekan to audit the company's 1994 financial performance,
charging a fee of Rp 8.5 million (US$3,600 at current rate),
excluding taxes.
Prasetio & Rekan had previously audited the company's 1993
performance.
Meanwhile, Director General of State Firms Bacelius Ruru said
yesterday that he still did not know the exact status of PTP
Agrintara. "To be sure, I must check it first."
"What is certain is that PTP Agrintara must be audited by an
accountant, either BPKP or a public accountant ... If not, how
can we monitor its performance?" Ruru asked.
A number of legislators, including Imam Churmem, Aberson Marle
Sihaloho and Tadjudin Noer Said, have blasted PTP Agrintara for
its refusal for a BPKP audit.
Tadjudin noted that even a joint venture between a state firm
and a private company could be audited by BPKP, let alone PTP
Agrintara,
PTP Agrintara's refusal for an audit by BPKP has sparked
speculation on what is going on with the company. It indicates
that the company has problems, Martiono said.
It has been reported that PTP Agrintara could not complete the
construction of its rubber processing project in Purwakarta, West
Java, and palm oil refinery project in Batam, Riau on time.
Soeharno and Agriculture Minister Sjarifudin Baharsjah once
claimed that the company, through PT Kalpataru Semesta, could not
complete the rubber processing project in Purwakarta on time
because there were many "evil spirits" hanging around the
project.
While the completion of the two projects are still uncertain,
Minister Sjarifuddin has assigned PTP Agrintara to build another
palm oil refinery in Batam. He has asked Finance Minister Mar'ie
Muhammad to provide a soft loan to PTP Agrintara to materialize
the new project. (rid)