Youths ask Pertamina to clarify US$6.1b graft

JAKARTA (JP): About 60 activists from several youth organizations demanded on Monday that state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina clarify an independent financial audit showing that it had incurred losses of US$6.1 billion over the past two years due to corruption and gross inefficiency.

Staging their protest in front of Pertamina's head office on Jl. Perwira in Central Jakarta, the youths grouped under the Anti-Corruption Committee (KAK) challenged president director Martiono Hadianto's seriousness to follow up on the report.

"Martiono must clean Pertamina from all corrupt officials," Edy Chumaedi, the group's coordinator, said.

The group tried to see Martiono, but an employee at the company's information department said the president was on an official overseas visit. They eventually agreed to meet Pertamina spokesman Ramli Jafar.

The group told Ramli that Pertamina should be proactive in responding to the audit, provided by foreign public accountant PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The audit report, leaked to the media last month, disclosed that the state company lost about $6.1 billion in the period from April 1, 1996, to March 31, 1998.

Ramli responded that Pertamina would await the official statement of the Ministry of Finance, saying that the independent audit was made on the ministry's instructions.

"We have not even received a copy of the audit report. We therefore cannot do anything about Pricewaterhouse's findings," he told the group representatives.

However, he said the Ministry of Finance would issue a statement on the auditor's report.

The demonstrators said they would continue their actions if Pertamina failed to follow up on the audit's findings.

KAK consists of several youth organizations, including the Students and Youths Committee (Kompak), the Students and Youth Action for Democracy (KAMPUD) and the Student Movement for Reform (GEMPUR).

In their protest, the group set fire to a mannequin, dubbed the "corruptor", which they said symbolized the death of corruptors.

The group also handed over a chicken with a name tag labeled "Martiono" around its neck to a public relations officer.

The chicken, they said, symbolized Martiono's inability to conduct a thorough investigation into corruption in Pertamina.

The protest went peacefully and ended at 1 p.m., soon after the delegation met Ramli. (03)