Goods and services providers urge Pertamina to cancel outsourcing system
Thursday, July 19 2001 - 02:24 AM WIB
Heroe contended that such a system had practically kicked out local small suppliers from participating in the supply tenders held by foreign PSC companies.
Citing an example, YPF Maxus and VICO recently held tenders for goods and services supplies, but none of local suppliers participated in the tenders as both PSC companies requires all participating companies to have capital of at least US$40 million.
Heroe suspected that by imposing such a capital requirement, both Maxus and VICO had wanted to exclude local suppliers from the tender and wanted to pick large U.S.-based suppliers to win the tenders.
The system, Heroe argued, was against the Constitution, especially article 33 that requires all resources in the country be used for the best interests of the people. In addition, the system also violated the anti-monopoly law, as it did not give any opportunity to local companies to participate in the tender.
Meanwhile, William S, general manager of Gulf Resources Jambi, said the outsourcing system did not aim to kill local companies and prioritize foreign ones. The main aim of the outsourcing system, he said, was to appoint one company as the coordinator, with many companies participating in certain project.
He also denied claims that the outsourcing system violated the anti-trust law, noting that a number of local companies, including a medium company, won tenders through the outsourcing system.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the House of Representatives' Commission VIII on energy and mining, Irwan Prayitno, said that Pertamina did not need to revoke the outsourcing system, but it needed to make clear-cut rules and then socialize them. (*)