In Arrears Of Revenue Fees, KPK Reveals 16 Nusantara Bridge Ships Still At The Aerospace After Acquisition Of ASDP

KPK Spokesperson Budi Prasetyo (Tsa Tsia/VOI)

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) revealed that 16 of the total 53 PT Jembatan Nusantara vessels acquired by PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry are still at the shipyard. This is because the state-owned company is still in arrears in repair costs.

"Investigators have checked in the field and it turns out that out of these a total of 16 ships are still in the dock or shipyard after repairs and maintenance are carried out," said KPK spokesman Budi Prasetyo to reporters quoted on Tuesday, November 25.

The ships, continued Budi, could not operate. "There has been no payment for the maintenance or repair fee. This of course then also has an impact on the company's profit loss," he stressed.

Budi then detailed the location of the 16 vessels that had not yet been operational. "Four ships in Riau, four ships in Tanjung Priok, and at several other ships in various regions in Indonesia," he said.

As previously reported, the Jakarta Corruption Court Panel of Judges sentenced Ira Puspadewi as the former Director of PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry. He was found guilty in the corruption case of the acquisition and business cooperation (KSU) of PT Jembatan Nusantara by PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry.

Apart from Ira, former Director of Planning and Development of PT ASDP, Harry Muhammad Adhi Caksono, and former Director of Commercial and Services of PT ASDP, Muhammad Yusuf Hadi was sentenced to 4 years and a fine of Rp250 million. They were found guilty and committed corruption together as the second alternative indictment of Article 3 Jo Article 18 of Law Number 31 of 1999.

However, the trial of this case became the spotlight after the Chief Justice of the Panel of Judges, Sunoto stated that Ira Puspadewi et al should have been acquitted or onslag. He took the option of dissenting opinion because the acquisition of PT JN by ASDP was not entirely convincing as a criminal act of corruption.

Sunoto also said that the punishment for Ira Puspadewi et al also had a negative impact on the business world, especially SOEs. The board of directors can be afraid to make decisions for fear of experiencing a similar fate.

"The best professional-professional will think many times to accept the leadership position in BUMN because they are worried that any non-optimal business decisions can be criminalized," Sunoto said in a verdict hearing, Thursday, November 20.