A letter signed by one Musdalifah Machmud, the deputy for Food and Agriculture Coordination unit at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs dated May 6, 2019, has caused a heated debate. The debate was triggered by the affirmation that the data on the License on Right to Cultivate (HGU) of Palm Oil Plantations are information excluded from public information. This means no party can get information about the HGU owned by companies in the industry. Environmental organizations strongly reacted against this development, but the Ministry’s decision is supported by representatives of the House of Representatives.

It has been years since the Commercial Court at the Central Jakarta District Court declared the corrugated carton company PT Wirajaya Packindo bankrupt, but the process of the Company’s insolvency continues to this day. Last year the team of curators announced that the Company owned three factories in two different locations, and they succeeded in auctioning one factory. Today, not much has changed other than that the team of curators already sold one other factory. The amount of money from sales is far from enough to pay for the Company’s debts.

The Buol Regency Government and Walhi submitted a non-litigation complaint about a legislation dispute to the Ministry of Law and Human Rights related to the issuance of forest area exchange license (IPKH) for PT Hardaya Inti Plantation (HIP) in Buol. They considered the decision was issued in violation of the applicable legal norms and overstepping the authority of the local government. The problem is, Amiruddin “Rudi” Rauf, the Regent of Buol, has rejected the request to obtain a location license for the Company which should be a must-have condition before the Ministry of Environment and Forestry can give the disputed IPKH license. However, due to overlapping regulations, the disputed license can be given to the Company. How can this happen? Speaking about the HIP, we certainly cannot forget the corruption case uncovered by the KPK several years ago which involving the owner of the Company Siti Hartati Murdaya and then Regent of Buol one Amran Batalipu.

The Corruption Court at the Central Jakarta District Court recently begin the trials of the bribees in the case of alleged corruption involving officials of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Indonesian National Sports Committee (KONI). The first hearing of the trials was held to listen the to Prosecutors indictment for three defendants, and the three defendants are being prosecuted in two separate trials.

Two years ago PT Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food Tbk (AISA) made headlines when the Food Task Force (Satgas Pangan) raided one of the warehouse of its subsidiary PT Indoberas Unggul on the suspicion of fraud. The case which started as a “simple” case of rice mixing turned out to be the beginning of the Company’s series of miseries. Soon after the case was uncovered, we witness how the Company’s executives and shareholders publicly fought against each other over the control of the Company. We eventually heard that the Company’s line of business where PT Indoberas Unggul is one of the subsidiaries had been declared bankrupt.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) conducted the first sting operation of 2019 on January  23, 2019 in the regency of Mesuji in Lampung. The KPK arrested dozens of people and named five people as suspects including the Regent of Mesuji one Khamami. The trial of the first batch of defendants is ongoing.

Towards the end of April 2019, PT Citra Sari Makmur (CSM) who used to be a business partner of PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk (TLKM – Telkom) filed a lawsuit against the Minister of Communication and Informatics at the Jakarta State Administrative Court. The Company questioned the Minister’s decision to terminate its license on Operation of a Fixed Closed Network (Izin Penyelenggaraan Jaringan Tetap Tertutup). We know that the Company escaped bankruptcy in 2014 and since then several of its creditors had attempted to cancel the peace agreement.

The hearing to examine the pre-trial lawsuit filed by Romahurmuziy, the chairman of United Development Party (PPP), against the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) finally began on May 6, 2019. In the hearing, Rommy’s team of legal counsels lead by Maqdir Ismail mentioned several procedural errors allegedly done by the KPK when they arrested Rommy and named him a suspect. Separately, towards the end of last week the KPK finally announced that they had named the Mayor of Dumai a suspect in the Budget Mafia case, as we expected.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is still investigating the corruption case that has ensnared Bowo Sidik Pangarso (Golkar), member of the House Commission VI of the House of Representatives. Over the weekend, the investigators searched the office of Muhammad Nasir (Demokrat), member of the House Commission VII of the House of Representatives who is also the brother of Muhammad Nazaruddin. Separately, the KPK conducted a sting operation in East Kalimantan, through which several people were arrested. The KPK named three suspects in the bribery case, one of whom is a judge of the Balikpapan District Court.

The Jakarta provincial government pledged to start using electric buses for public transportation in 2018, but that has not happened. The idea got revived after the Governor repeatedly reiterated his intention in the past month. Three electric buses have been tested on Jakarta’s main roads since April 29, 2019. On May 5, 2019, the buses were exhibited to the public. Later, there will be ten buses operating in the trial period for the next 6 to 12 months. PT Transportasi Jakarta (Transjakarta) will not be purchasing the buses. Instead, they will use a rental system per kilometer from the operators of the electric buses. So we’re reminded of a corruption case related to the procurement of buses for Transjakarta involving the former head of the Jakarta transportation department one Udar Pristono. Not long ago, the Supreme Court rejected the cassation petition submitted by the suppliers of the buses (who was considered guilty of conspiration by the KPPU).