Resuming strategic projects

President Megawati Soekarnoputri is scheduled to lead a ceremony marking the resumption of 14 strategic projects with a total investment value of US$9.3 billion at the ammonia and fertilizer factory of PT Pupuk Kujang in Cikampek, West Java, on Wednesday.

The decision to resume the projects is a very significant step because the investment will certainly involve foreign businesspeople, who are expected to help the Indonesian economy recover.

All of the projects had been postponed for some years due to corruption, collusion and nepotism, not to mention the financial crisis that hit Asian countries, including Indonesia, in 1997.

The postponement of the projects apparently frightened foreign investors away from doing business in Indonesia.

Although the resumption of the projects will hopefully bring international investors back to Indonesia, it may also revive corruption, collusion and nepotism.

It is thus necessary to control the 14 strategic projects or else they will only become new cash cows. -- Media Indonesia, Jakarta