Ilustrasi : Adhi KaryaA minister has asked PT Adhi Karya to improve its tarnished public image. The state-owned construction firm is the general contractor in the graft case surrounding the construction of the Hambalang sports complex in Bogor, West Java. 

State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan also suggested the board of directors tender their voluntary resignations to salvage Adhi Karya’s reputation. 

He said on Wednesday that the firm had found it difficult to secure new projects after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) started an investigation of the Rp 2.5 trillion (US$265 million) project in 2010.

In addition, he said, Adhi Karya’s public standing had also slipped when it was implicated in another graft case, the construction of sports facilities for the upcoming National Games (PON) in Riau.

Dahlan, who has reshuffled the boards of several state-owned enterprises, including energy firm PT Pertamina and insurance company PT Jamsostek this year, added that he had suggested the directors of Adhi Karya resign voluntarily if they were indeed implicated in the graft case.

“I cannot simply remove the current board of directors because one, they have tenure, and two, they have not been proven guilty,” he said. “However, I am asking those who are involved in the graft case to resign willingly for the company’s own good.”

The minister added there were members of Adhi Karya that he thought still had “seeds of corruption”, but declined to specify whom.

Adhi Karya, 51 percent owned by the government, is currently led by president director Kismodarmawan. Other members of the company’s board include Supardi, Bambang Pramusinta, Teuku Bagus and Sumadiono.

The Hambalang graft case has implicated several politicians, including the ruling party Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum and his fellow party member, Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng.

The Youth and Sport Ministry appointed Adhi Karya as the Hambalang project’s general contractor under a joint cooperation scheme with another state-owned construction company, PT Wijaya Karya.

Former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin, convicted for his involvement in another graft case related to the ministry, claimed he had helped Adhi Karya to win the project’s tender via one of his companies, PT Anugrah Nusantara.

On many occasions, Nazaruddin claimed that his former superior, Anas, was the co-owner of the company.

Last month, the KPK raided the offices of PT Adhi Karya to find evidence in the Hambalang graft case, but did not announce its findings. In June, several officials of Adhi Karya were summoned to the anti-graft body’s headquarters in Jakarta for questioning in the PON graft case.

Separately, Kismodarmawan refused to comment further over the minister’s statement. He denied that the company had difficulties in securing new projects.

“We are still optimistic that we can meet our company’s target of new contracts this year,” he said.

As of July this year, Adhi Karya had secured Rp 6.3 trillion worth of contracts year, or 53 percent of its 2012 target, according to the company’s corporate secretary Amrozi Hamidi.

The contracts include jetty construction for PT Aneka Tambang, worth Rp 330 billion and the establishment of double-track railroads between Central and East Java, worth Rp 200 billion

source: http://www.thejakartapost.com