Appointment of Mitsubishi in Cilegon power plant questioned

The National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) has questioned the direct appointment of Mitsubishi Corporation as the contractor to build the 740-megawatt combined cycle power plant in Cielgon, Koran Tempo reported Friday.

The agency’s senior official Gumilang Hardjakoesoema said in Jakarta on Thursday that state owned electricity company PLN’s decision to appoint the Japanese company without a tender process had violated the existing procedures.

“We have asked PLN to fulfill the existing procedure,” he was quoted as saying. He said that under the existing regulation, PLN should open an international tender in selecting the contractor of the project so that PLN would have the opportunity to get the best deal.

An international tender could be avoided only if the related project has a single supplier and financed by soft loans, he said.

The Cilegon power plant was one of large-scale projects suspended by the government during the peak of the country’s financial crisis five years ago. The previous contractor was PT Daya Listrik Prima, a subsidiary of Kiani Group which is owned by former president Soeharto’s close friend Bob Hasan. (*)