Pertamina Negligent and the Stubborn Inhabitants
The Pertamina depot in Plumpang, North Jakarta, experienced a severe fire on Friday, March 3, 2023 evening. The location of the depot which is surrounded by densely populated settlements, even in the buffer zone, makes everything even more complicated and 19 residents are reported to have died. However, the problem is not only fires that result in death. This is not the first time a similar incident has happened to Pertamina’s assets. Apart from that, why are there densely populated settlements in the buffer zone? The history of land disputes around the area is clearly in favor of Pertamina, it is the illegal residents who must be relocated. Unfortunately, on March 7, 2023, Pertamina and the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) decided to give in. The Pertamina depot will be moved to another location within the next two years. This solution, in our opinion, will not solve the problem. Parties who deliberately defy the existing regulations must be held accountable.
Revisiting Problems in Alhasanie
PT Alhasanie, a mining company and subsidiary of PT Atlas Resources Tbk (ARII), is still having legal problems with one of the company’s contractors PT Macmahon Mining Services (subsidiary of Macmahon Holdings Limited – ASX: MAH—partly owned by Salim-Medco’s Amman Mineral Nusa Tenggara). Back in 2018, Macmahon filed two lawsuits on Suspension of Debts Payments (PKPU), demanding Alhasanie to restructure its debts, and apparently the parties also tried to resolve the dispute in Singapore. Recently, Alhasanie filed a new lawsuit against Macmahon.
The Ultra Vires Decision
The Central Jakarta District Court, once again, made a controversial decision. Towards the end of last week, the Panel of Judges granted the civil lawsuit registered by the Partai Rakyat Adil Makmur (Just Prosperous People’s Party – Prima). The decision ordered the General Elections Commission (KPU) not to carry out the remaining stages of the upcoming 2024 general election and to repeat the preparation stages from the beginning. This decision quickly raised objections because it would clearly result in a delay in the General Election preparation process and thus be unconstitutional. Why would a Panel of Judges in one of the most important courts in this country make such a reckless decision?
BAKTI Kominfo Scandal & NasDem Party
Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has on Wednesday (March 1) examined eight witnesses in the corruption case at BAKTI Kominfo, an agency under ministry of communications and informatics, which dragged so many telecommunication companies.
On the Geostationary Orbit Scandal : The Trial
The trial on the case of alleged violations in satellite management cooperation at the Ministry of Defense started this week. The case supposedly cost the State around Rp800 billion, but the indictment now mentioned that the case caused State losses amounted to Rp450 billion.
Revisiting PT PAL Case
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) uncovered the case of bribery involving the board of directors of a State-owned enterprise PT Penataran Angkatan Laut Indonesia (Persero) (PT PAL Indonesia) back in 2017. The KPK named at least five suspects but one suspect managed to escape before the KPK made their official announcement. With the KPK’s success in capturing several fugitives in the past two years, the demand for the KPK to arrest all fugitives has intensified.
The End for Surya Darmadi?
Businessman Surya Darmadi, owner of Duta Palma Group, returned to Indonesia and turned himself in to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) mid last year. The AGO alleged Surya of committing corruption which caused State losses amounted to over Rp70 trillion and moved very quickly to complete the docket. Near the end of the inquisition stage, the AGO announced that the estimated State losses have reached over Rp100 trillion. Unbelievable. Surya finally stands trial as a defendant in September 2022. Towards the end of last week, Surya was found guilty. But until the end, Surya insisted that he was not guilty. He even threw tantrums during the last hearing.
Convict Haryadi Suyuti
Last year, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) finally uncovered the corrupt practices in the city of Yogyakarta. The revelation many have been waiting for. Mayor of Yogyakarta, Haryadi Suyuti, was named as suspect and the case eventually ensnared then Vice President Real Estate of PT Summarecon Agung Tbk (SMRA), Oon Nusihono. Unfortunately, the case did not reveal more than what was mentioned during the arrest. This week, Haryadi was found guilty and sentenced to a slightly heavier punishment if compared to the prosecutors demands.
Revisiting the Disturbing Land Mafia Case (2)
In the previous article, we repeatedly expressed our surprise, although in fact what happened is no longer surprising. Two or more different decisions related to the same dispute actually often occur, but what happened in this case still surprised us, because the POLRI was initially very confident. However, since a convict was later released, the excitement over this case has slowly dissipated.
Revisiting the Disturbing Land Mafia Case (1)
The land dispute case in East Jakarta, which was later dubbed as the land mafia case, remains convoluted even after the trials in the district court have ended for over a year. We thought the alleged key perpetrator in the case, one Benny Simon Tabalujan, is still on the run. But recently we learned that the police had issued a termination of inquisition on Benny towards the end of 2022. The discreet process left us confused but we’ll try to summarize the process in this series of articles.