Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – A national team established by the President began on Monday efforts to transfer Indonesian Military (TNI) business assets to the state, even as some experts dismissed the process as all show.
Established under Presidential Decree No. 7/2008, the 10-member team, comprising officials and businesspeople, has the authority to assess and value all military business assets. It will then recommend to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono which assets and companies should be transferred to the state.
Team chairman Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas said the team would prioritize assessing major businesses belonging to the military, including its foundations and cooperatives.
"We will assess all the military businesses in term of their profitability and liabilities. Then we will recommend to the President what businesses should be taken over," he said.
Erry said he was optimistic the team would finish its work before the Oct. 16, 2009, deadline set for the transfer of all military businesses to the state.
Some experts have called the team toothless, accusing the President of attempting to buy time. They note his decree on the establishment of the team does not include the authority for the team to directly take over the businesses.
Secretary to the state minister for state enterprises, Said Didu, however, underlined the need for the government to do its due diligence, to avoid acquiring troubled business entities with more liabilities than assets.
"The team will clean up the problems before we turn the military businesses into state assets. After the team submits a list of healthy businesses to take over, the President will issue a separate decree legalizing the transfer of the assets," he said.
University of Indonesia military expert Kusnanto Anggoro, however, expressed doubt the President was serious about taking over the TNI businesses. He pointed out the issuance of the decree setting up the team came four years after the enactment of the law on the TNI that ordered an end to the military's involvement in business.
"It gives the impression that the government has allowed the military to break down its shares in its firms, as the law defines military businesses to be taken over as those with assets below Rp 20 billion. Four years is enough time for them to do that," Kusnanto said.
With both Erry and Didu estimating the total book value of the military assets at only Rp 1 trillion, Kusnanto said the military appeared to have been successful in the business transformation efforts.
"The state could end up getting nothing and the soldiers, who have received false hopes of seeing their welfare improved following the assets transfer, will be disappointed," he said.
Kusnanto said military business had served generals more than rank-and-file soldiers since Gen. Rudini led the Army in the early 1990s.