BUMN IN SPOTLIGHT

           State-owned enterprises locally abbreviated to BUMN have taken a center of spotlight again and the reality is not something new. Business units belonging to the government have frequently taken the center of public spotlights but the present cause is different from the past. Now, statement of top leader of the state companies causes the public to shift their attention to the state companies.

        As reported on mass media, Minister of State owned Enterprises Dahlan Iskan disclosed in an anticorruption seminar held in the building of Anti-graft commission (KPK) that some 70% of the contractors within BUMN has committed bribery to secure government projects The statement is based on internal survey by the Ministry of BUMN. Conclusively, some 70% of the contractors of BUMN admitted bribery is needed to obtain projects indeed.

        The first reaction comes from KPK. The institution expressed the readiness to follow up the finding of the Minister. In this context, KPK indeed is assigned to follow the alleged corruption in state administrator institutions even though Dhalan only threw ball and had no intention to uncover the bad conduct. Demand for uncovering the alleged corruption in projects of BUMN even came from Deputy Speaker of House’s Commission VI  Benny K Harman. Benny said that Dahlan must dare uncover corruption practices in BUMN and point directly whoever playing in various projects.

      Related to BUMN, indeed the business unites of the government are always close analogy indicating unfairness and dirty game. Dairy cow is any of the pronunciations really attaching to BUMN so far because state officials and politicians have treated the state companies as dairy cow for decades. In view of the fact, it’s not wrong if Deputy Chairman of KPK Busyro Muqoddas said in the same seminar that BUMN turn chaotic because of intervention from elite groups of political parties. It results in dynamics cornering BUMN to become extortion object of politicians and state officials and unit wherein bribery grows to obtain government projects.

          Growing bribery within BUMN is allegedly attributable to stiffer competition to obtain projects. Talking about project, we must be careful in judging and commenting in relation to BUMN. It’s important to remind that BUMN is a business unit becoming a lengthy arm of the government so that the outcomes would be felt truly by Indonesian people if they are managed properly and accountably. Benefits contributed by the group may be higher than those from private business units. In this point, the fall of projects into BUMN should be deemed as something good as long as it does not violate the law. Above all, anticorruption principle and vision must be enforced without respecter. If the bribery accusation addressed to state owned construction companies is proven, penalty should be imposed.

      In addition, state companies also need to continue improving and increasing contribution to national development because they not only play role as business entity but also represent the state and government in breeding values of Pancasila and collective wisdom on the basis of democracy principles. The state companies are spotlighted from negative perspective again because the business units are expected to improve performance so to contribute greater to development and the people’s welfare.

Jakarta, June 8, 2011

Business News - June 13, 2012