IAW: INA-24 Sea Navigation Project Stalls, Bappenas Is Considered Negligent From The Beginning

Indonesian Audit Watch (IAW) Founder Secretary Iskandar Sitorus (Ist)

JAKARTA The Aids to Navigation (ATON) project coded INA-24 has been heralded as a big leap for the safety of Indonesian shipping. With a foreign loan scheme that gives a 10-year payment period, this project looks promising on paper. However, the reality on the ground is much different.

Iskandar Sitorus, Secretary of Founder of Indonesian Audit Watch (IAW), in a statement released today, Monday 11 August, revealed that soft loan funds amounting to 97.1 million US dollars from South Korea's Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) have been prepared from the start. The interest is only 0.15 percent per year, with a tenor of up to 40 years. Even so, this project actually stopped in the middle of the road, sparking public attention to the Ministry of Transportation as the executor.

"The root of the problem is that it is in the planning stage, at the Bappenas table," said Iskandar. He explained, in 2016 the government through the Ministry of Finance signed a loan agreement with South Korea. Prior to that, Bappenas included INA-24 in the Blue Book a priority project list that deserves to seek foreign funding and then to the Green Book, which means it is ready to be funded.

In accordance with Government Regulation Number 10 of 2011, every project that enters the Green Book is mandatory through technical, financial, social, and institutional studies. However, the 2022 BPK report shows that the INA-24 feasibility study does not include an analysis of the implementing capabilities.

"This means that since the beginning Bappenas gave the green light without ensuring that the Ministry of Transportation was really ready in terms of resources, institutions, and technicalities," said Iskandar.

As a result, since the loan agreement was signed, the implementation of the project has stalled. Tender repeatedly failed and physical progress has barely moved. In fact, Bappenas has the obligation to report project developments to the DPR every three months, as stipulated in Law Number 17 of 2003 concerning State Finance.

"In fact, the report never existed. There is no evidence that Bappenas gave a warning or warning to the Ministry of Transportation even though the delay was clear," said Iskandar.

He emphasized that although the old rules had been replaced by Presidential Decree No. 195 of 2024, Bappenas' responsibility was not lost. "Regulations may change, but the obligation to oversee and evaluate projects financed by foreign debt remains the same," he said.

Audit IAW recorded three Bappenas violations in the INA-24 case: maladministration for approving projects without adequate verification, neglect of supervision for not reporting developments to the DPR, as well as potential state losses due to delays that trigger the risk of penalties and interest without benefits.

IAW also reminded, this pattern is repeated. In 2012, port modernization projects worth 80 million US dollars failed completely because the land was not ready. In 2018, the US$60 million Transportation Information System project was running slowly after the tender was repeated three times.

"The red bank is clear: the project has passed the Green Book, but the executor is not ready, and Bappenas is washing his hands," said Iskandar.

In today's release, IAW recommends a BPK audit that focuses on the Bappenas approval document, reporting to the Ombudsman on allegations of maladministration, judicial review of PP Number 10 of 2011 so that reports on the progress of debt projects are published, as well as hearings for the DPR which summoned the Head of Bappenas, the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Transportation.

The INA-24 project should be a symbol of productive international cooperation. Unfortunately, what happened was to prove negligence in the planning and supervision stage, which ultimately sacrificed people's money," concluded Iskandar.