Tutut set to stay on at toll road company
JAKARTA (JP): The eldest daughter of former president Soeharto, Siti "Tutut" Hardijanti Rukmana, is set to stay on as president of the country's largest toll operator Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada (CMNP).
But following a shareholders meeting yesterday, the company announced that Tutut's husband Indra Rukmana and Soeharto's cousin Sudwikatmono had stepped down as the chief commissioner and commissioner respectively. Former minister of trade and industry Tunky Ariwibowo has also resigned as a commissioner.
Indra has been replaced by Sofjan Assauri, who earlier served as commissioner, and Sudwikatmono and Tunky by Dadi Haryadi and Yusuf Hamka.
"None of the shareholders asked for Tutut's resignation so that she will remain the president of the company until the year 2002," said CNMP's Director Teddy Kharsadi after the shareholders' meeting.
As the practices of corruption, collusion and nepotism come under intense public scrutiny, companies linked to Soeharto's family and cronies are facing mounting public pressure to sever ties or clear them from executive boards.
Tutut's brother Bambang Trihatmodjo resigned as president of the publicly listed diversified business group PT Bimantara Citra late last month. Earlier this month, he stepped down as president commissioner of petrochemical company PT Tri Polyta.
In a press conference on Monday, Tutut was defiant that she would fight to keep CMNP's helm, saying that her "professionalism" proved she was worthy of the job.
However, she demanded that her comments be embargoed until after the company's shareholders meeting.
"If the shareholders ask me to step down, I will ask them whether the request is based on professional or political reasons.
"If it is for political reasons, I will ask them to reveal it in a statement so that people know that and they still believe in my professionalism and give me work."
Tutut believed the company would still fare well in the future despite the absence of political connections since it had relied on professionalism from the outset of its operations.
She argued that CMNP landed contracts during her father's 32- year rule to its professionalism, and not because of sweetheart deals.
CMNP, established in 1987, operates the 16-kilometer (km) toll road linking Cawang, East Jakarta, and Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, and the 13.13-km toll road connecting Tanjung Priok and Jembatan Tiga in Pluit, West Jakarta.
CMNP holds 30-year build-operate-transfer contracts until 2019 over the Cawang-Tanjung Priok toll road and until 2025 over the Tanjung Priok-Jembatan Tiga toll road.
Tutut claimed to have a mere 2.2 stake in CMNP through her company PT Citra Lamtoro Gung Persada. The remaining stakes are owned by the public (39.5 percent), state toll road company Jasa Marga (17.79), Yayasan Purna Bhakti Pertiwi (11.01), cement producer Indocement (8.8), transportation company Steady Safe (7.6), Steady Safe Finance (6.6), state steel producer Krakatau Steel (6.06) and cooperatives (0.4).
The company is developing several toll road projects in the country and abroad, including a 237.4-km toll road project in the Philippines.
But several projects, including the 36.5-km Waru-Tanjung Perak toll road in East Java, have been put under review by local authorities who suspected the company had obtained them through political connections, corruption and collusion.
Tutut said the government had awarded projects to the company due to its professionalism, instead of political connection.
She said CMNP had hired attorneys to protect it against any move by the government to unilaterally annul contracts with the company.
The company said it booked a net profit of Rp 45 billion (US$3 million) for the first quarter of the year, up 49 percent from the year-ago period.
The shareholders agreed that the company pay a Rp 25 dividend per share on its 1997 profit. (jsk)