Jakarta – The much-awaited presidential regulation on the takeover of military businesses drew criticism due to the lack of detailed information, raising concerns on whether the transfer process would be transparent and accountable.
Jaleswari Pramodhawardani, an analyst at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that the regulation should have specified which business units were to be transferred.
"The military owns not only cooperatives and foundations, but also corporations, commercialized security services and commercialized state assets; the regulation should list them all," she said. She added that the regulation should also stipulate a clear transfer mechanism and time line for every kind of business unit.
Presidential Regulation No. 43/2009 on the takeover of military business units was issued Monday. The regulation stipulates that all business units that are directly owned and managed by the military must be transferred to the civilian government, in this case the Defense Ministry.
The regulation also says the ministry must manage all the cooperatives and foundations controlled by the military, as well as the state assets currently being used and managed by the military.
Jaleswari said Defense Ministry's takeover of the business units was "merely a formality". "In reality, the military businesses will not be transferred to a civilian government as we have expected." She added the ministry was partially controlled by the military.
Data from the national team overseeing the transfer of military businesses shows that the military controls at least 23 foundations overseeing 53 companies, and 1,321 cooperatives.
The military also owns 1,618 properties, covering more than 16,500 hectares, and 6,699 buildings. The data also showed the military's business assets are worth Rp 2.2 trillion (US$235.4 million).
The regulation stipulates the establishment of a team that will monitor the transfer of the military business units to the Defense Ministry.
A researcher at the Imparsial Human Rights Group, Al Araf, lamented the fact that the regulation had not set a deadline for the takeover of the business units.
"This will lead to uncertainty. This is proof that the government has yet to commit to the takeover." Secretary to the state minister for state enterprises Said Didu said there was no telling how long the team would take to complete the transfer process.
"The transfer process will be tough. We are expecting to see reservations, especially from the third parties involved in the businesses," he said Wednesday. (adh)