Website at the heart of graft scandal shut down
Dozens of notaries flocked to the Justice and Human Rights Ministry office Tuesday as they scrambled to process their clients’ business permits, following the closure of a graft-linked online administration system.
The ministry’s website, www.sisminbakum.com, intended for the online processing of permits for, among others, the establishment and bylaw modification of enterprises, was officially closed on Tuesday after the Attorney General’s Office confiscated money, bank accounts and various operating devices owned by PT Sarana Rekatama Dinamika (SRD), the ministry’s partner responsible for operating the website.
The items were confiscated as evidence in a graft case that centers on the online service’s procurement and operations, and allegedly involves several former and current senior officials at the ministry, including prominent legal expert and former director general for public law administration Romli Atmasasmita.
If the closure continues, investors will have to return to the manual system, which takes longer - and often costs more because of the need to pay bribes - than the online system.
Yudi, an assistant to a Central Jakarta-based notary, said he had to wait for almost four hours at the justice ministry. He had registered business permits for eight clients through the online system about two weeks ago.
“There are time limits for processing the permits; a maximum of 60 days for the establishment of a new business and 30 days for bylaw modification of an old business. Now with the closure of the website, we don’t know when the process will be completed,” he said.
No SRD officials were seen at the ministry office.
Another employee of a notary office, Diana, was disappointed SRD had not warned in advance that it would close the website.
“We don’t know yet what to do if nothing’s done about this. We’re badly affected by this case,” she said.
Although the online service is no longer active, notaries wishing to process their clients’ business permits can still do so by coming directly to the office of the Justice and Human Rights Ministry.
However, Yudi said the manual process required several visits to the ministry, compared with only one when registering for the permit online, and required a much longer processing period too.
On Monday, SRD lawyer Hotma Sitompoel said the company had to shut down the service because the devices and money needed to operate it had been confiscated by prosecutors.
The AGO says the appointment of SRD to run the online service violated regulations because of the lack of an open tender. The case is believed to have caused Rp 400 billion in state losses.
The ministry’s website, www.sisminbakum.com, intended for the online processing of permits for, among others, the establishment and bylaw modification of enterprises, was officially closed on Tuesday after the Attorney General’s Office confiscated money, bank accounts and various operating devices owned by PT Sarana Rekatama Dinamika (SRD), the ministry’s partner responsible for operating the website.
The items were confiscated as evidence in a graft case that centers on the online service’s procurement and operations, and allegedly involves several former and current senior officials at the ministry, including prominent legal expert and former director general for public law administration Romli Atmasasmita.
If the closure continues, investors will have to return to the manual system, which takes longer - and often costs more because of the need to pay bribes - than the online system.
Yudi, an assistant to a Central Jakarta-based notary, said he had to wait for almost four hours at the justice ministry. He had registered business permits for eight clients through the online system about two weeks ago.
“There are time limits for processing the permits; a maximum of 60 days for the establishment of a new business and 30 days for bylaw modification of an old business. Now with the closure of the website, we don’t know when the process will be completed,” he said.
No SRD officials were seen at the ministry office.
Another employee of a notary office, Diana, was disappointed SRD had not warned in advance that it would close the website.
“We don’t know yet what to do if nothing’s done about this. We’re badly affected by this case,” she said.
Although the online service is no longer active, notaries wishing to process their clients’ business permits can still do so by coming directly to the office of the Justice and Human Rights Ministry.
However, Yudi said the manual process required several visits to the ministry, compared with only one when registering for the permit online, and required a much longer processing period too.
On Monday, SRD lawyer Hotma Sitompoel said the company had to shut down the service because the devices and money needed to operate it had been confiscated by prosecutors.
The AGO says the appointment of SRD to run the online service violated regulations because of the lack of an open tender. The case is believed to have caused Rp 400 billion in state losses.