TNI, ministry to boost efficiency

JAKARTA: The Ministry of Defense and the Indonesia Military (TNI) headquarters have agreed to improve communications aimed at boosting the efficiency in the procurement of military equipment.

Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono said on Wednesday that strong communications between the two institutions would be a basic principle to determine the priority in the purchase of defense materiel.

"Each military force must propose its realistic needs to the TNI headquarters in accordance with their priorities, while the Ministry of Defense will decide whether the state budget can meet the demand or not," he said after a meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

Meanwhile, TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said that he prefers that the government meet the basic needs of troops, such as barracks, clothing and guns, most of which, he added, were in poor condition.

The government is allocating an additional sum of Rp 2 trillion (US$210 billion) for this year's TNI budget, which was previously set at only Rp 21.9 trillion. --JP