Pertamina not transparent over graft allegation

Legislators accused state-oil firm Pertamina for not being transparent in responding to allegations of corruption, collusion and nepotism, or locally known as KKN, based on audit results by the Finance and Development Comptroller (BPKP) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Irwan Prayitno, a chairman of the House of Representatives' Commission VIII on mines and energy, said Pertamina did not respond to allegations of grafts, but merely disclosed various inefficiencies in the company.

Irwan, legislator from the Reform faction, said that Baihaki was reluctant to address graft allegations, and instead twisted the matter by saying that BPKP's allegations of KKN in Pertaina worth Rp 1.047 were not all related with KKN but merely inefficiencies in the company.

He noted that the value of inefficiencies in Pertamina, according to PwC reached US$4.7 billion or Rp 32 trillion, and not Rp 1.047 trillion. The latter figure, according to Irwan, was all related with KKN issues.

"Why then the value of inefficiencies dropped drastically to only Rp 1.047?" Irwan queried.

Baihaki said earlier last week that graft allegations from BPKP were still allegations and needed verifications, and therefore it was not right to say that all the 212 cases contained KKN practices.

Baihaki went further to say that irregularities reported by BPKP were mostly dealing with the violation of common procedures stipulated in the regulations on the procurement of goods and services. "So, yes, there are irregularities, but all of them should not be translated as KKN."

According to Pertamina's spokesman Ramli Djaafar, BPKP found possible irregularities in Pertamina activities amounting to Rp 208 billion, of which some Rp 20 billion had been clarified.

Findings of possible irregularities in Pertamina's production sharing partners totaled Rp 820 billion, he said, with cases involving Rp 515 billion clarified.

Ramli said that irregularities in Pertamina's subsidiaries totaled Rp 3 billion, of which cases worth Rp 1.5 million had been clarified.

Meanwhile legislator Pramono Anung, also from Commission VIII, said that the various KKN practices that plagued Pertamina were made possible because of Law No. 8/1971 that gives Pertamina too much power in the areas of oil and gas exploration in the country.

Pramono said the law gives Pertamina roles as regulator, executive as well as supervisor for oil and gas exploration activities in the country.

"That makes Pertamina's performance cannot be assessed professionally," said Pramono, who is deputy secretary general of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.

Therefore, Pramono said that the currently drafted bill on energy and mining should divide the three functions currently born by Pertamina to minimize chances of KKN practices to emerge. (*)