Insinuating Each Other, This Is The Chronology Of Commission VII DPR Expelling The Managing Director Of Krakatau Steel From The Meeting

President Director of PT Krakatau Steel (Persero) Tbk Silmy Karim. (Photo: VOI)

JAKARTA - President Director of PT Krakatau Steel (Persero) Tbk Silmy Karim was expelled from the Hearing Meeting (RDP) with Commission VII DPR. The expulsion occurred after Silmy teased each other with the Deputy Chairman of Commission VII DPR Bambang Haryadi as the chair of the meeting.

At the meeting which took place on Monday, February 14, initially Silmy was asked for an explanation regarding the blast furnace steel factory, steel imports and the progress of the smelter in South Kalimantan.

The problem started with Silmy's request, who wanted to stop the blast furnace project because it was considered stalled and losing money.

"After operating, we calculated that the product produced and the selling price did not match the calculation or in other words a loss. With the permission of the Ministry of SOEs, then in consultation with the BPK with an independent agency review, we decided to stop the operation," said Silmy in the meeting.

Responding to Silmy's statement, chairperson of the meeting and Deputy Chairman of Commission VII Bambang Haryadi assessed that the statement was not in line with the government's commitment to strengthening the domestic steel industry.

"You said earlier, this is unique, it's just a joke in the morning. Earlier, the President Director said that KRAS was profitable. It is clear that the blast furnace has been operating since July 11, 2019. So it is recognized that it has been operating and there is a spirit like our president that wants to strengthen domestic steel production," said Bambang.

"This is how the blast furnace factory is stopped but wants to strengthen domestic production. Don't shout thieves. Don't let us play, pretend we don't play," he continued.

Silmy also questioned the meaning of the 'thief' statement made by Bambang.

"What do you mean, thief, sir?" asked Silmy.

Bambang also explained what it meant, namely that on the one hand there was a spirit to strengthen the industry, but on the one hand the industry was stopped.

"Well, in the sense that you say you want to strengthen it but on the one hand you want to stop it. So where are we going to strengthen it?" said Bambang.

Bambang also immediately pointed out the alleged case of counterfeiting the Indonesian National Standard (SNI) which was allegedly carried out by entrepreneur Kimin Tanoto. According to Bambang, this case was handled by Polda Metro Jaya. However, there is no solution.

"In this way, where is the steel case at Polda Metro until now. We ask for an explanation. That's one of your members named Kimin Tanoto," said Bambang.

Silmy also denied and said that he could not provide an explanation regarding this matter. Because, he was present as the President Director of Krakatau Steel.

The debate heated up and culminated when Bambang was offended because Silmy interrupted his opinion. He felt Silmy's attitude as a challenging attitude which eventually led to his expulsion from the meeting room.

"There are trial technicalities, you can never respect the commission. You quit," said Bambang.

Receiving the expulsion, Silmy immediately said that if he had to leave, he would leave the DPR Commission VII meeting room.

"If we really have to go out, we'll go out," said Silmy.

However, the expulsion was eventually cancelled. Member of the House of Representatives Commission VII Adian Napitupulu suggested a meeting with all parties, so that all steel industry import problems can be investigated not only unilaterally but from the regulator's side as well.

"This meeting is not yet complete. If this meeting is closed by calling other parties, such as the Ministry of Finance, why do so many imported steels come in? What is obtained from the import tax, because everything is interrelated, we cannot blame those who become traders one-sidedly. Regulators must also be collected," said Adian.

For your information, the blast furnace is one of the Krakatau Steel projects that had sparked a polemic. The root cause of the problems at Krakatau Steel is the stalled blast furnace project worth US$850 million.

The stalled project made Krakatau Steel's debt to reach 2 billion US dollars. However, since 2019, the company has begun to restructure its debt worth US$2.2 billion or equivalent to Rp31 trillion. In fact, SOE Minister Erick Thohir some time ago also mentioned that there was a smell of corruption in the project. "Krakatau Steel has a debt of US$2 billion. One of them is an investment of US$850 million, that is not good, there must be indications of corruption," he said. in the online discussion 'Bangkit Together', Tuesday, September 28, 2021.

Erick said that the Ministry of SOEs would also investigate the alleged crime. Erick said law enforcement for wrong businesses must be corrected.

"And we will pursue anyone who causes harm. Because this is back, it's not that we want to blame, but law enforcement on business processes that we have corrected," he said.