JAKARTA - Suharto's influence on the Cendana family's business trip was enormous. His sons-in-law are free to do business with joy. From property business to government procurement projects. Siti Hardijanti Rukmana alias Mbak Tutut, for example.
Since he was 21 years old, Suharto's eldest son has started his career in the business world. He is good at finding opportunities. Including the computerized business of making a driving license (SIM). The business made his account fat. Big profit.
The story of Suharto being the number one person in Indonesia cannot be forgotten in the trajectory of history. All kinds of ambitions as the leader of the New Order can be realized immediately. He was able to change Indonesia's political paradigm from lighthouse politics to the paradigm of economic development.
The move worked for a while. Therefore, Suharto was known as a figure who spoke little but acted a lot. All thanks to the authoritarian Suharto who was able to mobilize the military to control various sectors, ranging from security, economy, and politics.
For Suharto, there is no ambition that cannot be achieved. Everything was broken by Suharto. The origin of the title of power still belongs to him. After that, Suharto began to give space to his family, commonly known as the Cendana Family, to start a business.
The business wing of his family – from wife, children, daughter-in-law – began to establish its power in all fields. So special that all banks, especially state banks are so generous in lending. No one cares how big the risk.
“In short, the authority and business scope of Cendana's subsidiary companies are the same as those of a state company. The only difference is this: state-owned companies are owned by the people, the Cendana company is controlled by Suharto's children. With such supernatural powers, it is not surprising that this family has penetrated almost all business sectors: property, telecommunications, banking, hospitality, automotive, electricity, oil, chemicals, entertainment, toll roads, to hundreds of hectares of fruit gardens.”
“This business group is getting fatter day by day, not only because of various special permits, but also because banks (especially state banks) are very generous in providing credit, no matter how big the risk. At that time, Bank Indonesia did not even need to include loans for Cendana companies in the calculation of credit risk because they were guaranteed not to go bankrupt, like state companies,” wrote Tempo Magazine's report entitled Jejak-Jejak Anak Cendana (2003).
The business pattern developed by the Sandalwood Family is always the same. Suharto's big name means a lot to the sustainability of the Cendana Family business. It was Suharto's influence that earned them a special permit. Among those businesses, they are mostly just looking for commissions. The role of the Cendana Family is only to help with licensing.
Another method is also applied by the Cendana Family. They did not forget to create a company. In that case, the company becomes their medium to obtain special and special licenses to work on various national projects.
The project packaging in question is of national interest. The narrative is that the project was developed for the greatest benefit of the Indonesian people. However, the facts say otherwise. The project was just to fatten their own accounts.
“In the third stage, the Cendana family began to engage in various mega projects, and their business received special protection and treatment. For example, Tutut, he is the only private entrepreneur who was given a genie to build a toll road. Then how did Tommy get special facilities to develop the Timor national car project, even though the car was 100 percent made in South Korea,” wrote Femi Adi Soempono in the book They Betrayed Me: Attitudes of Suharto's Golden Children at the End of the New Order (2008).
Mbak Tutut SIM business
Suharto's first child, Mbak Tutut, did not escape taking advantage of his father's power as the number one person in Indonesia. Since the age of 21, he has been known to be active in the business world. His business skills even penetrated all fields. Toll roads, oil, financial services, television, agribusiness, and state concessions are the focus.
After that, Mbak Tutut plugged her power in the computerized management project for making a driving license (SIM). For Ms. Tutut, SIM is one of her profitable business fields.
Umbrella company PT. Citra Permatasakti Persada (CPP) is used by him. In that, he invited a Golkar Party sympathizer, Setya Novanto (later: Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives for the 2014–2019 Period). The two of them then supervised the project in collaboration with the Indonesian National Police in 1992.
"The cooperation between Suharto's family and cronies in the business of the Indonesian National Police is no less intimate. Tutut and Sudwikatmono's PT Citra Permatasakti Persada (CPP) and Eka Tjipta Widjaja's PT Wenang Sakti (Sinar Mas) have a monopoly on driving licenses in eleven major cities, in collaboration with the National Police Inkud and former National Police Chief General (Polri) Koenarto."
“Five years of cooperation using the computer network owned by the Police, has resulted in doubled benefits for Tutut and his business partners. This collaboration was then continued with a monopoly on making ID cards by another Suharto family company, PT Solusindo Mitra Sejati, led by Mrs Elsye Sigit, the wife of Suharto's eldest son, Sigit Harjojudanto," said George Junus Aditjondro in the book Presidential Corruption (2006).
The contract entered into by CPP was initially only for two years. After that, the CPP is required to hand over hardware in the form of computers, and others to the Police. However, the contract lasted for five years. All that because the CPP obtained an extension of time. It is said that because of the political lobby.
The benefits that Mbak Tutut got through the CPP were also abundant. The value of the procurement of goods, including computers for the manufacture of SIMs, is only around Rp. 101 billion. The report was revealed by the Suara Update newspaper, June 3, 1998.
Regarding the benefits obtained by CPP, it actually exceeds the authorized capital. CPP made a profit of IDR 500 billion in five years. In more detail, for each incoming payment of IDR 52,500 per SIM, IDR 48,500 will be allocated to PT Citra Permatasakti Persada, while the remaining IDR 4,000 will go into the state treasury.
“The large amount of funds that go into the projects of Cendana's children and grandchildren is what causes students-and the whole community-to be 'angry' and many people demand that their wealth be investigated. The amount of wealth accumulated by blurring the line between private property and state property for more than thirty years has finally caused an economic crisis that has reduced people's wealth to only 25 percent from the original due to the fall in the value of the rupiah," concluded Sanjoto Sastromihardjo in the book Reformation in Sanjoto's perspective (1999). ).
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