Controversy over Caltex pipe contract continues

Controversy over the antimonopoly watchdog's decision against PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia continues with PT Citra Tubindo, one of companies involved in the tender, accusing the decision as being set up for the interest of a certain party.

Citra Tubindo, which was accused of colluding with other two bidders in order to win the US$5.7 million project, said on Monday that the decision of the antimonopoly commission was flawed.

"We suspect that the decision was engineered for the interest of certain parties," the company's general manager Agus Hidayat said in Batam as reported by Koran Tempo.

Agus said that if Caltex cut the contract to meet the commission's order, it would cause a great a financial loss to Citra Tubindo, which he claimed had invested about $6 million to supply the pipes.

Citra Tubindo won the contract last year to supply Caltex with casting and tub pipes over three years, outbidding three other bidders. But the antimonopoly commission said that based on its investigation, the tender was unfair and it ordered Caltex to cut the contract or face a legal suit.

According to the commission, the tender discriminated against small-scale companies and it had provided a loophole for bidders to carry out unfair business practices.

The commission said that the tender system had allowed PT Citra Tubindo to collude with other two bidders to win the project.(*)