State firm takes over Migas Center project
State firm takes over Migas Center project
JAKARTA (JP): PT Pembangunan Perumahan, a state-owned property
developer, will take over the US$153 million Migas Center
building project after the government terminated PT Petrobuild
Indonesia's build-operate-transfer agreement.
President of Pembangunan Perumahan Daryanto said yesterday his
company had formally received the government's offer to continue
the construction of the 32-story building.
"We will resume the delayed project after the government has
cleared its dispute with the former developer," he was quoted by
Antara as saying following his meeting with Minister of Mines and
Energy I.B. Sudjana.
The government last year canceled Petrobuild's contract to
develop the Migas Center, a building for oil and gas companies,
on Jl. Thamrin.
The contract was terminated after Petrobuild failed to finance
the construction works according to schedule.
The construction of the building at the site of the former
office of the oil and natural gas directorate general was
initially scheduled for completion in March next year.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy recently established a
consortium of the Pertamina employees' welfare foundations and
Pertamina's pension funds to take over the project from
Petrobuild.
Consortium
Daryanto said the Ministry of Mines and Energy had also asked
his company to join the consortium.
Petrobuild had sub-contracted PT Ballast Indonesia to help
construct the building.
Ballast Indonesia's President Dewi Soeprapto Ongko also asked
the government to clarify the project's status and its dispute
with the former developer.
"It is important for us because we have spent more than Rp 25
billion on the piling works for the project," she said, adding
that Petrobuild had paid less than a half of its bill.
The plan to develop a representative oil and gas center to
house the offices of oil companies and the oil and gas
directorate general was conceived in the 1980s.
But the idea only developed into a concrete project in early
1993 with the full support of the then Minister of Mines and
Energy Ginandjar Kartasasmita, who witnessed Petrobuild's
contract with the government.
According to earlier reports, Petrobuild did not want its
contract terminated, claiming the government's decision to cancel
the deal was unfair.
The company said it would not be compensated for the money it
had invested in the project, including the rent it paid for the
temporary offices for the directorate general's staff. (hen)