Re-negotiation on Tasikmalaya Gitet project postponed
Friday, February 2 2001 - 03:30 AM WIB
Re-negotiation between the government, in this case represented by state electricity company PT PLN, with the winner of the marked up, high-voltage electricity relay station (Gitet) project in Tasikmalaya, West Java, has been postponed, waiting for the return of Coordinating Minister for Economy Rizal Ramli from his trip to Davos, Switzerland.
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro revealed on Thursday (Feb. 1) that the fate of the Tasikmalaya project was still put at the balance by the electricity team established by presidential decree (Keppres) No. 133/2000.
"In the (the team's) last meeting, it was decided that the Kediri (East Java) Gitet would be re-negotiated, while the fate of the Tasikmalaya Gitet was not yet decided, waiting for the resolution to the problems on the construction of the 500 kV transmission line from Klaten (Central Java) to Tasikmalaya," Purnomo said after attending a ceremony on the hand-over of ISO 14001 certificate to state tin miner PT Tambang Timah in Bangka, South Sumatra.
The construction of the high-voltage electricity transmission line from Klaten to Tasikmalaya by PT Bukaka Tehnik Utama has been canceled by then coordinating minister for economy and finance Kwik Kian Gie. Bukaka then brought the case to the State Administrative Court.
"As long as the case is not yet settled, the re-negotiation of the Tasikmalaya Gitet cannot start,," Purnomo said.
Nevertheless, the minister noted that the government would soon clear all barriers that could delay further the construction of the transmission lines in the southern part of Java.
The Tasikmalaya project was awarded by PLN to a consortium of PT Ritra Safitri (reportedly owned by Bambang Yoga Sugomo) and PT Citacontrac, with financial supports from German Development Bank (KFW).
The Tasikmalaya project would cost PLN Rp 386.9 billion, or 283 percent more expensive than similar project to be built in Depok, West Java.
Besides the Tasikmalaya Gitet, Purnomo also confirmed that electricity subsidy fund for PLN for year 2000 budget totaling Rp 3.9 trillion was still withheld by Bank Indonesia. He noted that the subsidy fund was deliberately withheld because the audit on PLN conducted by the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) showed that PLN's finance turned black in year 2000 as it booked a positive operating income. (*)