Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Two state-owned contractors implicated in illegal markups in a prior project are among five companies that have passed the first qualification phase for the construction of a new office tower for legislators.
Pembangunan Perumahan and Adhi Karya were on Thursday named by the House of Representatives as having passed the administrative test for the Rp 1.13 trillion ($130 million) project. The three other companies are Hutama Karya, Waskita Karya and Duta Graha Indah. The latter is the only private contractor in the batch.
Sumirat, an official from the House Secretariat overseeing the bidding process, said six other companies had failed the administrative test. "They'll have five days from the time of this announcement to challenge the results," he said.
Adhi Karya was previously accused of illegally cooperating with Pembangunan Perumahan when the latter firm won the contract to build homes for legislators in Kalibata, South Jakarta.
The project was marred by allegations of massive markups and expensive delays. Many legislators refused to move into the taxpayer-funded homes, citing substandard building materials and other irregularities.
House Speaker Marzuki Alie had previously warned the House Secretariat to blacklist any companies with bad records from participating in the bid for the new project.
However, Sumirat said that neither Pembangunan Perumahan nor Adhi Karya were on the House's blacklist, despite the earlier controversy. "None of the five companies are on the secretariat's blacklist, so we haven't banned any of them," he said.
He added that the bidding process could not proceed any further until the Public Works Ministry had evaluated the building plan. The House has given the ministry a month to carry out the evaluation from the time the announcement of the first-phase winners is made.
"According to our previous schedule, we were supposed to have determined the winner of the bidding process by June," Sumirat said.
"But because of this new evaluation phase, that might be postponed. We might need even more time if the ministry recommends changes to the building design or the budget plan." The project has been widely criticized by budget watchdogs, the public and individual legislators as wasteful and unnecessary.
However, the House has refused to budge on the issue, insisting the growing number of staff employed by each legislator necessitates the need for a new building, which it says will cost Rp 1.13 trillion but which watchdogs say will amount to Rp 1.8 trillion once furniture and fixtures are included.
On Thursday, hundreds of students from universities across the Greater Jakarta area held a rally outside the House complex in South Jakarta to protest the plan.
"We demand the cancellation of the new building project," said Andi, a spokesman for the student protesters. "There are still many poor citizens who need that money."
Maruarar Sirait, a legislator from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), urged the House leadership and individual parties to respond to the growing public outcry against the plan.
He said the current office tower was still adequate to accommodate legislators and their staff members.
"We should prioritize the people's needs before our own," Maruarar said. "Many educational and health facilities need to be built now, so it's not proper to busy ourselves with building a new legislative building."