'Telkomgate' committee

'Telkomgate' committee

From Koran Tempo

At last, the House of Representative (DPR) has teamed up with the state-owned telecommunications company, PT Telkom, to increase telephone rates, effective January 2002.

Actually, PT Telkom has recorded profits of almost Rp 3 trillion, which would have been even more if there had been no leakages in PT Telkom (see news story in Koran Tempo of Nov. 28 titled DPR: Probe into leakages in Telkom and Indosat).

The news story said the DPR had asked the government to investigate these alleged irregularities but the DPR stuck to its approval of the hike in telephone rates. Therefore, it should be required of the honorable people's representatives that they set up a special committee to investigate the financial leakages in PT Telkom and PT Indosat (the "Telkomgate" case).

Meanwhile, the DPR should revoke its approval of the telephone rate increase and wait until the special committee has publicized its findings. If manipulation can be proven, the officers involved should be punished and Telkom's rates should be maintained at their present level for five years. Only after that can a discussion on a hike in the telephone rate be discussed with the DPR. This is what one would call an honorable and consistent resolution.

DEHEN BINTI Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan