Who Is Peter Gontha, Commissioner Of Garuda Indonesia, A State-owned Airline Whose 28 Percent Shares Are Owned By Conglomerate Chairul Tanjung?

Commissioner of Garuda Indonesia, Peter Gontha. (Photo: Instagram @petergontha)

JAKARTA - Commissioner of PT Garuda Indonesia Tbk, Peter Frans Gontha, is rumored to be leaving the country's pride airline soon. This strong signal was conveyed by Peter in his personal Instagram account last weekend.

“What is certain is that on August 14 (I) will stop/replace/dismiss because I have asked to quit (since) last January. Thank you for the trust all this time", he said via @petergontha.

When examined more deeply, VOI had reported that Peter's attitude was allegedly not in line with the management and other stakeholders in the GIAA stock-coded business entity. He shared this through his Facebook page in early June.

"The decision was taken by the Ministry of SOEs (related to Garuda) unilaterally without coordination and without involving the board of commissioners", he said.

In fact, the Java Jazz boss also took the initiative to ask the Ministry of SOEs, as the parent entity of Garuda Indonesia, not to give him a salary as a form of responsibility for the company's condition, which is afflicted with financial problems due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"So we ask, by easing the company's burden a little, to immediately start in May 2021, whose payments are indeed postponed, stop paying our monthly honorarium until the next General Meeting of Shareholders (GMS)", he said.

So, who exactly is Peter Frans Gontha who is brave against the government's decision through the ministry led by Erick Thohir?

Based on information compiled by the editors, the man who was born in Semarang, Central Java, May 4, 1948, is the son of the couple V. Willem Gontha and Alice. He started his professional career as a crew member of the Holland-America Line cruise ship based in the Netherlands.

Peter was also noted to have received a scholarship to study accounting at the Praehap Institute in the Netherlands from Shell. After his education, he worked at Citibank New York and eventually became American Express Bank's Vice President for Asia.

Back in Indonesia, Peter made phenomenal work by establishing Plaza Indonesia Realty (The Grand Hyatt Jakarta). He was also mentioned as a key figure in the presence of several Indonesian media giants, such as Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia (RCTI), Surya Citra Televisi (SCTV), PT Chandra Asri Indonesia, PT Tri Polyta Indonesia, First Media, and Indovision.

During his journey, Dewi Gontha's father was also known to be a news officer of BeritaSatu TV as well as the initiator of the biggest music show in Indonesia, the Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival. Music, which is said to be favored by the upper class, he began to cultivate when he was eight years old.

His expertise in embracing and conquering various fields made the government consider Peter's services necessary to fight for Indonesia's diplomatic interests abroad.

On October 15, 2014, he was appointed as the Indonesian Ambassador to Poland. He held this position for four years or until 2018, before finally being given the power to sit in the top seat of Garuda Indonesia.

For information, GIAA is a national flag carrier whose majority of shares are controlled by the government with a portion of 60.54 percent. Followed by conglomerate Chairul Tanjung who holds 28.27 percent of the company's shares, and the public with ownership under 5 percent, which amounts to 11.19 percent.