Jakarta – Indonesian Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono has acknowledged that the budget to maintain major equipment of the weapons system of the Indonesian Military (TNI) was still limited.

However, Sudarsono declined to comment on any connection between the maintenance budget and the the plane crashes in Aceh and Malang, East Java, on Thursday (21/07).

"Basically, we are still concerned with maintenance costs. However, I think we should not speculate whether or not the limited maintenance costs are related to these incidents," the Defense Minister told reporters in Jakarta on Friday (22/07).

According to Sudarsono, he and the TNI headquarters were still conducting a review into the maintenance of weapons system major equipment, including warships, fighter planes and other facilities related to the defense operational readiness.

The Defense Minister said that the budget to maintain the equipment was relatively small.

Basically, in every force, between 60 and 70 percent of the budget is allocated for personnel and the operational administration.

"So, every force only uses around 30 to 35 percent of its budget to develop and maintain its weapons system. From this, it can therefore be seen that the amount for maintenance is very low," said Sudarsono.

For the next step, the Defense Minister said that his ministry, together with the TNI and the Air Force headquarters would carry out an evaluation as soon as the TNI Commander had returned from Aceh and Air Force Chief of Staff from Malang. (Agus Supriyanto-Tempo News Room)