Kadin criticized for dragging feet in settling Unocal tender dispute

Businessmen in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan has criticized the Balikpapan office of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) for dragging its feet to settle the dispute between a local businessmen and oil and gas company Unocal Indonesia Company over a tender result.

Kaltim Post quoted the businessmen as saying the Kadin formed a team to clarify the dispute but the result of the works of the team remained unclear.

However, spokesman for Balikpapan's Kadin Johny NG denied the allegation that the Kadin was slow in settling the dispute.

"We don't drag our feet. We want to collect accurate data from businessmen involved in the dispute so that our clarification will be complete and will not create new problems," Johny said.

Sutirdja, president of Balikpapan-based PT H&H Utama International, has complained to the Kadin about alleged irregularities in the tender process for the provision of fabrication service to Unocal.

He said Unocal had awarded the project to PT Guna Nusa Utama, which he said did not actually qualify for the project. (*)