'Restructure' ownership of Soeharto firms

'Restructure' ownership of Soeharto firms

JAKARTA (JP): Economic analyst Laksamana Sukardi rejected on
Friday the idea of 'killing' businesses owned by former president
Soeharto's family and cronies, saying the businesses should be
maintained given their valuable assets.

However, he said ownership of the companies should be
restructured to eliminate traces of corruption, collusion and
nepotism.

"Don't kill their businesses. They have workers. They have
infrastructure and export networks. They also have to negotiate
with their own customers.

"Killing their business means only vengeance, which we don't
want to do," Laksamana told The Jakarta Post.

Laksamana said as part of the restructuring, the government
should take over shares of Soeharto's children and cronies before
selling them to the Indonesian people, pension funds or foreign
buyers.

Laksamana, an economic advisor to chairwoman of the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) Megawati
Soekarnoputri, said Megawati supported his view on the issue.

Several reformists have called on the government to restrict
any attempts by Soeharto's family and cronies to further develop
their businesses. The observers argue that such a stance would
comprise part of the punitive measures for the corruption,
collusion and nepotism they conducted during Soeharto's era.

Teten Masduki, an executive of the Indonesian Corruption Watch
(ICW), earlier called on state oil and gas company Pertamina to
refrain from granting PT McDermott Indonesia -- a joint venture
between the U.S. company McDermott and Soeharto's crony Mohammad
Bob Hasan -- the contract for the construction of the giant
underwater pipeline to channel natural gas from west of Natuna
Island to Singapore.

McDermott won the US$335 million contract in competitive
bidding held by the consortium, but Pertamina has yet to approve
the result.

"Let Bob Hasan do business with private companies but don't
give any more government projects to him, unless he is willing to
return to the government the money he has illegally collected
through corrupt, collusive and nepotistic practices," Teten said.

Thus far, under President B.J. Habibie's leadership,
enterprises controlled by the Soeharto family and associates
remain intact. But several analysts believe anti-Soeharto parties
will place increased pressure on the viability of these
businesses if they win the elections.

Laksamana said PDI Perjuangan would seek to preserve the
companies but that restructuring of the companies's ownership was
necessary.

Laksamana proposed the establishment of a special independent
commission with the task of examining all cases of corruption to
find viable solutions.

"The corruption issue is very delicate, because it involves
almost all companies. Instead of settling the problems case by
case, we'd be better setting up an institution which is
independent and won't arbitrarily decide on each case," he said.
(jsk)