Total faces US$12 million lawsuit in East Kalimantan

Local company PT Patra Dinamika has filed a law suit against French oil mining company Total E&P Indonesia in the East Kalimantan court for allegedly being unfair in conducting a tender for diving tools supply, local newspaper Kaltim Post reported on Monday.

In its legal suit, Patra demanded Total to pay a compensation worth US$12 million.

The $2 million tender, carried out in 2002, was participated by five companies including PT Samudera Mbiantu Sesami, PT Lancar Rejeki Barat, PT Samudera Biru Nusantara, PT Komaritim and Patra Dinamika.

In the final process, Total shorlisted the bidders, and selected Patra and Komaritim as the final bidders. But Komaritim was later announced as the winner.

According to Patra?s lawyer Laksmi Nurani Usman, one of the requirements made by Total was that the diving tools should be less than 10 years of age.

Unlike the other bidder, Komaritim, whose tools had mostly been used by more than 10 years, Patra met all the requirements, Laksami claimed. However despite such shortcomings, Komaritim had come out as the winner of the tender.

Patra charged the company of being unfair and was involved in collusion practice in deciding the winner of the tender.

Total?s head of communication, Vita Dharmawan, denied all the charges, saying that the winner was selected based on the existing technical qualifications. (*)