TNI chief pledges not to repeat mark-ups
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto vowed on Monday not to allow any mark-ups in the purchase of military hardware and promised to punish any personnel who committed corruption in the future.
"I don't deny that in the past one or two of my subordinates did mark up the prices of military equipment or the construction cost of military installations," Endriartono said during a hearing with House of Representatives (DPR) Commission I for political, security and foreign affairs.
"Should it happen again, I will investigate those involved," he added quickly.
He defended the military, however, saying that if the TNI had asked for a higher budget allocation, it was because it had to pay "the cost of export credits and interest".
"I hope the legislators understand that when the TNI purchases military equipment from certain countries, they offer us some credit facilities because we cannot pay in cash.
"As a consequence, we must pay some of the cost of the export credits and interest. These costs, of course, will increase the budget, but they cannot be called mark-ups," Endriartono said.
"We have some 35 submarines ... which I believe Pak Sondakh wants to operate, don't you?," Endriartono said turning to the Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Bernard Kent Sondakh, who accompanied the TNI chief during the hearing.
During a visit to Slovakia and the Czech Republic recently, President Megawati Soekarnoputeri learned that in the past the military had often marked up the price of military hardware purchases.
In 1994, the TNI came under fire for buying used submarines from Germany at very expensive prices.
Megawati is reportedly considering buying some military equipment from the Czech Republic, including the L-159 jet fighter.
Indonesia has been forced to seek weapons from new sources following the United States' Congress's decision to impose a military embargo on the TNI following the 1999 post ballot violence in East Timor.
Megawati warned the military not to mark up the price of the military equipment that Indonesia might buy from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.