Pertamina pledges to kick out corrupt officials

State oil and gas company Pertamina, which in the past had become the milk cow of senior government officials will speed up the restructuring program within its management in a bid to root out corruption, collusion and nepotism practices in the company.

The company's president Baihaki Hakim said on Monday that replacing the "old people" within the company's management would become the main priority in the restructuring program, which was launched since his appointment as the company's boss early this year.

"The regeneration process of the company's management will be sped up. Younger and dedicated officials will be put in the fast track to allow them to replace the old people as soon as possible" he told a press conference jointly held with state electricity company PLN and the State Logistics Agency (Bulog).

Pertamina, which was known in the past as the jungles of corruption, collusion and nepotism practices, is struggling to change its bad image. But efforts to adopt a good corporate governance practice are often impeded by the "old people" within the company's management.

Baihaki said that the state oil company would operate in the future as a business group, which would handle both the upstream and downstream oil industry. To achieve, the target, the bureaucracy in the company's management had been shortened so that the policy making process could be carried out much faster, he added.

"There will be decentralization of the policy making process. The management position under the supervision of a director can now make a decision without having to wait from the company's board of executives," he said. (*)