Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – The government's efforts to recover the assets of seven foundations associated with former president Soeharto has received strong support from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK).
BPK member Baharuddin Aritonang said Thursday that the assets of the foundations should be placed under government control as, according to the 2003 State Finances Law, they should properly be categorized as state assets.
"It's stipulated in this law that any entity founded using state funds must be included in the state-asset category," he was quoted as saying Wednesday by Antara.
Baharuddin further said that the BPK would conduct an audit on the foundations' assets as soon as they were recovered and incorporated into the government's budget accounts.
The Finance Ministry's director for budgetary accounting, Hekinus Manao, had previously said that the government intended to seize the assets as the foundations had been liberally endowed using the profits of state firms.
Hekinus declined to name the seven foundations or the total value of the assets involved. However, he said that the Finance Ministry had identified assets worth Rp 31.28 billion (US$3.4 million) at the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah cultural park in East Jakarta, which belongs to the Harapan Kita Foundation – one of the foundations associated with Soeharto.
Former president Soeharto established 11 foundations during his time in office, whose activities cover such fields as healthcare, education, religious affairs, disaster relief, and the funding of the Golkar Party and its affiliated organizations.
The eleven foundations are the Dharma Bhakti Sosial Foundation (Dharmais), Supersemar Foundation, Dana Karya Abadi Foundation (Dakab), Amal Bhakti Muslim Pancasila Foundation (AMP), Dana Mandiri Foundation (Damandiri), Dana Gotong Royong Foundation, Seroja Foundation, Harapan Kita Foundation, Mangadeg Foundation, and Ibu Tien Soeharto Foundation – the last named in honor of Soeharto's wife.
Soeharto resigned in disgrace in 1998, with the public convinced that he and his family had squirreled away a fortune amassed on the back of rampant corruption during his 32 years in power.
Under intense public pressure, the government then sued the foundations seeking to recover funds that were alleged to have been stolen from the state. However, little progress has been made, and the foundations retain full control of their assets. Hekinus said that the Finance Ministry had been trying to convince the trustees of the foundations to voluntarily surrender the assets, but had thus far failed.
On behalf of the foundations, Dana Mandiri Foundation secretary Soebijakto Tjokrowardoyo was quoted by the Koran Tempo daily as saying that while there had been talks with the Finance Ministry, these had not involved the handing over of the foundations' assets as the government's claim was still before the courts.
Meanwhile, Soeharto's lawyer, O.C. Kaligis, was quoted by detik.com as saying that the Finance Ministry would first of all have to bring a fresh action against the foundations if it wanted a court order to seize their assets.