Ridwan to lose his position at Merpati
Ridwan to lose his position at Merpati
JAKARTA (JP): Ridwan Fatarudin's days as the president of the
state-owned airline Merpati Nusantara are numbered after Minister
of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto ordered that he be replaced
following Merpati's refusal to lease Indonesian-built CN-235-200
aircraft.
Ridwan told the press last week that, in spite of Haryanto's
request that Merpati lease 16 CN-235-200 planes, Merpati had
decided not to do so because the aircraft's unusually high
operating costs would worsen the financial condition of the
airline.
Merpati, a subsidiary of the national flag carrier Garuda
Indonesia, has been asked by the ministry of transportation to
lease, through PT Arthasaka Nusaphala, 16 CN-235-200 aircraft.
However, Merpati's management considered the US$110,000
monthly leasing fee to be too high, saying that even a Boeing
737-200, with a seating capacity three times as large as the CN-
235, costs only $105,000 per month to lease.
Moreover, according to Ridwan, most of the CN-235 aircraft
currently operated by Merpati have been losing money.
Arthasaka is owned jointly by the Bakrie Group, controlled by
Aburizal Bakrie, and the Humpuss Group, which is controlled by
Hutomo Mandala Putra.
The CN-235 is produced by the state-owned PT Industry Pesawat
Terbang Nusantara (IPTN) in Bandung, which is chaired by State
Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie.
Ridwan said he had suggested that the government buy the 16
CN-235-200s and transfer them to Merpati as new equity, as the
government had done earlier with the 14 CN-235-10s currently
operated by the airline.
Haryanto sharply criticized the widely-publicized decision of
the Merpati management, saying that the negotiations were still
underway at the time, with several overseas financial
institutions offering low interest rates.
Haryanto was reported by the Media Indonesia daily yesterday
to have ordered Garuda's president, Soepandi, to sack Ridwan, as
well as Budhiarto Subroto, Amin Kahar and Syarifudin Iteroedin --
Merpati's directors of operation, finance and commerce
respectively.
Soepandi, unable to disobey the order, conveyed Haryanto's
request to the finance minister, who is the nominee shareholder
for the government in all state companies.
Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad said yesterday that he
would soon make a statement through his spokesman about the
matter.
"Just wait for a press release from the public relations
department of my ministry," Mar'ie said yesterday, as quoted by
Antara.
Ridwan, who was appointed Merpati president in August 1992,
replacing Frans H. Sumolang, said that he had been warned
previously by Haryanto that he might lose his job.
"The minister has told me three times that I will lose my
post. So I fully realized the consequences of my public statement
about the refusal to lease the CN-235-200 aircraft," he said.
He said that it might be true that Merpati is the "baby
sitter" testing ground for IPTN's products, but added that he
also has a responsibility to take care of the company's financial
soundness.
Merpati spokesman Tondo Widodo said yesterday that neither his
office nor the public relations sections of Garuda or the
ministry of transportation had yet received any official
notification about Ridwan's replacement. (icn)