The integrity of Personnel Should be Improved

The State-Owned Enterprises Ministry will promote integrity and management at state-owned enterprises. The steps include the dismissal of the president director of Garuda Indonesia.

KOMPAS/ALIF ICHWAN

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani (left) talks with State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Minister Erick Thohir (right) during a press conference at the Finance Ministry office in Jakarta on Thursday (5/12/2019). The press conference was used to explain the chronology of the smuggling of Harley Davidson motorcycles and Brompton bicycles using Garuda Indonesia\'s new aircraft.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - The smuggling of a secondhand Harley Davidson motorcycle and a Brompton unfolding bicycle, which were transported by a new Garuda Indonesia Airbus A330-900neo with flight number GA9721 during its ferry flight from France appears to have been well planned.

The smuggling case has tarnished governance at state-owned enterprises. State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Minister Erick Thohir said that based on a report by the Garuda Indonesia audit committee and board of commissioners, the case could involve more than one person.

"I\'m saddened by this. We want to build the image and performance of SOEs, but the personnel is not ready. However, integrity and good corporate governance must be strengthened. I will dismiss the president director of Garuda Indonesia,” Erick told reporters during a media conference in Jakarta on Thursday.

Erick said, "According to the audit committee, the Harley motorcycle is owned by AA". Based on the manifest of flight GA9721, the passengers included I Gusti Ngurah Askhara Danadiputra alias Ari Askhara or AA, the president director of Garuda.

We want to build the image and performance of SOEs, but the personnel is not ready.

The audit committee\'s report stated that in 2018, AA asked that a Harley-Davidson produced in the 1970s be found. The motorcycle was purchased in April 2019, with payment being made through a bank transfer from the bank account of Garuda Indonesia’s financial manager in Amsterdam.

Based on a Finance Ministry estimate, potential state losses caused by the smuggling of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle and Brompton folding bicycles could reach Rp 532 million (US$38,000) to Rp 1.5 billion. With the potential state losses, according to Erick, the people involved could face criminal charges.

Erick has vowed to review Garuda Indonesia‘s boards of directors and commissioners. He will also appoint an acting president director to take charge until an extraordinary shareholders meeting is held to name a new president director.

Kompas received no response from Garuda corporate secretary M. Ikhsan Rosan and Ari Askhara when contacted for comment.

KOMPAS/HARYO DAMARDONO

A Garuda Indonesia Airlines Airbus A330-900neo aircraft is towed to the GMF hangar on Wednesday (27/11/2019) at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, Banten. Soekarno-Hatta Airport Customs and Excise officers discovered 15 boxes containing used Harley-Davidson motorcycle parts and two boxes containing brand-new Brompton bicycles.

Not his hobby

Directorate General of Customs and Excise personnel found a cardboard box containing a disassembled Harley-Davidson with a label indentifying SAS as the owner. However, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said SAS was not into motorbikes.

Sri Mulyani asserted that anyone who provided false information in customs forms would be punished in accordance with Law N0. 17/ 2006 on customs. "It seems that the person named SAS sacrificed himself [for someone else]," she said. SAS, who secured a Rp 300 million bank loan in October 2019 to renovate his house, reportedly claimed to have bought the used Harley-Davidson on eBay.

However, the seller could not be found. The president director of Aviatory Indonesia, Ziva Narendra, has stated that the case must be thoroughly investigated. He cautioned that there must be transparency regarding ferry fights of aircraft from the manufacturer.

It seems that the person named SAS sacrificed himself [for someone else]

Responding to the case, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi has assigned the Director General of Civil Aviation to coordinate with Garuda in the future. Director General of Civil Aviation Polana B Pramesti also asked the flight inspector at the Airport Authority Office of Region I to look into the case.

"The Ministry of Transportation is checking for indications of noncompliance with flight approval," he said. "We are alarmed by this incident. However, we appreciated President Director Ari Askhara for his good work. Under his leadership, corporate performance improved and he was also open to unions and listened to input relating to employee welfare and improvement of the company," said the executive chairman of Garuda Indonesia’s Employee Union, Tomy Tampatty.

This is not the first time smuggling on Garuda planes has been uncovered. In July 1976, two Garuda pilots and copilot worked together with businessman Kho Kian Kie to smuggle 48 gold bars weighing 48 kilograms into the country using a Garuda airplane. The case was uncovered by the Kemayoran Customs and Excise Office.