Unfair revenue split causes losses to Jasa Marga

Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post. Jakarta

State-owned toll operator PT Jasa Marga said that the recent audit findings of Rp 1.68 trillion (about US$160 million) in efficiency losses were mainly caused by an uneven revenue sharing scheme between the company and private toll road investor PT Citra Marga Nusapala Persada (CMNP).

Jasa Marga president Syarifuddin Alambai said on Wednesday that in the revenue sharing scheme for the construction of the Cawang-Tanjung Priok toll road, initiated by the government in 1989, Jasa Marga would receive 25 percent of the total revenue from the road, while CMNP would receive 75 percent.

"At the time, the government allowed CMNP to receive a higher share because it had invested more money in the project than us," he said in a media conference here.

In the agreement, Jasa Marga operates the Cawang-Grogol section, while CMNP operates the Cawang-Pluit section, Syarifuddin said.

Since then it became clear that the Cawang-Grogol section was more profitable than the Cawang-Pluit section operated by CMNP, he said, explaining that the traffic flow between Cawang and Grogol was 65 percent higher than between Cawang and Pluit.

Syarifuddin said that the audit found that if the revenue sharing scheme was to continue for the extent of the contract, or until 2023, then there would be efficiency losses amounting to Rp 1.1 trillion and potential loss of Rp 1.9 trillion.

"Therefore Jasa Marga and CMNP have agreed to make adjustments to the revenue split, but we have not reached an agreement yet on the percentages," he said.

According to Jasa Marga's calculation, based on the value of investment and the amount of traffic, the company's portion should be 53 percent and CMNP 47 percent since 1997, Syarifuddin said.

However, CMNP had proposed that the split be 65 percent for CMNP and 35 percent for Jasa Marga, he said.

"If we cannot reach an agreement on this, we will invite the help of an arbitration committee to make a calculation and determine the split," Syarifuddin added.

CMNP, founded by, among others, former president Soeharto's daughter Siti Hardijanti Rukmana, is 17.79 percent owned by Jasa Marga, 11.01 percent owned by Yayasan Purna Bhakti Pertiwi, 8.8 percent owned by PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa, 6 percent owned by PT Krakatau Steel, 7.39 percent owned by PT Steady Safe, 6.6 percent owned by Steady Safe Finance BV, 2.43 percent by PT Citra Lamtorogung Persada, and 0.4 percent by a cooperative. The remainder of the CMNP shares (39.58 percent) are owned by the public.

The special audit on Jasa Marga was conducted by Hadi Susanto & Partners, a member of PricewaterhouseCoopers, on behalf of the government for the period between 1995 and 1999.

Besides Jasa Marga, independent audits were also conducted on four other state-owned companies as part of an agreement between the government and the International Monetary Fund. The audit results were made public last week.

The other companies audited were PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II, PT Perkebunan Nusantara IV, PT Garuda Indonesia, and PT Telkom.

The auditors found efficiency losses totaling Rp 8.5 trillion and $1.62 billion, potential losses of Rp 7.35 trillion and $698 million, and savings or profit losses of Rp 776.02 billion, Rp 64.7 billion a year and $147 million.