Jakarta –
Not long agoi 3 SOEs disbanded by the Minister of SOEs Erik Thohir. It doesn’t stop there, in the near future it is reported that 2 other SOEs will participate in the ‘death injection’, namely PT Merpati Nusantara Airlines (Persero) or MNA and PT Istaka Karya (Persero).
“So the fourth one, basically Pak Yadi is still in the process, especially like Merpati and Istaka, there is a process rather than homologation,” said Erick Thohir at a press conference, Thursday (17/3/2022).
The three SOEs that were dissolved by Erik Thohir will soon follow, along with a short trip from Merpati (MNA) and Istaka Karya airlines.
1. PT Merpati Nusantara Airlines
Merpati itself is a state-owned airline that operated in 1962 or the era of President Soekarno’s leadership with a capital of Rp. 10 million. At that time it was also determined if the capital could be added with the provisions of a Government Regulation.
The establishment of Merpati Airlines is in accordance with Government Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia Number 19 of 1962 concerning the Establishment of the State Regional Air Transportation and Multipurpose Aviation Company “MERPATI NUSANTARA”.
From detikcom records, Merpati has touched its heyday in 1989-1992. At that time, Merpati had about 100 fleets. Pigeons have various types of aircraft, from jets to small propellers.
In that golden age, Merpati was led by the President Director of Capt FH Sumolang. Under Sumolang’s leadership, Merpati entered the era of jet aircraft such as the Fokker-28, Fokker-28, and DC-9.
“The number of planes is 100. The jet era is in Sumolang. There are Fokker 28 and DC9,” said the Advisory Board of the Merpati Employees Forum (FPM) I Wayan Suarna in Jakarta, quoted from detikcom news edition (5/2/2014).
In addition, Merpati’s performance is strengthened by synergies with Garuda Indonesia. Merpati serves as feeder for Garuda Indonesia to serve flights to remote areas of the country. In the period 1989-1992 the welfare of Merpati’s employees was very high. Even the highest in the BUMN environment beat PT Pertamina (Persero).
Pigeons have also flown from Biak-Honolulu-Los Angeles, Jeddah to Australia. However, over time and when Garuda stopped working together after Sumolang was no longer the President Director, Merpati’s financial performance got worse starting in 1993.
Many problems made Merpati finally unable to fly again on February 1, 2014. At that time Merpati was also in the process of establishing a subsidiary, divesting assets and the debt to equity steps were still in the framework of restructuring and revitalization.
These problems continued until finally Merpati began to fall into a coma and suspended animation. Until now, Merpati is rumored to be following the footsteps of the 3 SOEs that were previously disbanded.
2. PT Istaka Karya
Compared to other state-owned enterprises such as Wika, Waskita, HK, Adhi Karya to PP, Istaka Karya’s business actions are relatively less heard by the public in the country.
Istaka Karya was originally established as a consortium construction company in 1979 under the name PT ICCI which stands for Indonesian Consortium of Construction Industries. At that time the company had recorded a number of brilliant achievements by handling various large projects in Saudi Arabia.
The company later changed its name to PT Istaka Karya (Persero) which handles projects in several areas, especially government projects. Several projects that Istaka Karya had worked on included the reclamation of Bitung Manado, Plaza Batamindo, and the YIA airport train. Istaka is also known for several fly over projects in several areas.
However, in mid-2021, Istaka Karya was dubbed the “ghost SOE”. This suddenly made the PT Istaka Karya Labor Union rejected the designation and sent a letter of protest.
“With this letter, allow us to convey that Istaka Karya is not a ghost SOE,” reads a letter from the Istaka Karya Workers’ Union signed by the Chairman of the Adriyansyah Workers’ Union, which was received by detikcom, Thursday (30/9/2021).
The Labor Union stated that the company is still active and not a ghost company. Even now, in 2021 the company will get four new projects.
“We are proud to state that until now, we are still working and the company is still operating normally, it is proven that in 2021 we have obtained four new projects,” reads the letter from the Labor Union.
The four projects include:
1. Education and health facility construction project in Central Sulawesi with a contract value of IDR 78,811,601,000.
2. The Luminor Signature construction project in Sumenep, Madura, East Java phase 1 with a contract value of Rp 19,199,390,500.
3. The project for the construction of an integrated government office in the Brebes district, Central Java, with a contract value of Rp. 100,705,101,069.
4. Royal Paradise apartment project in Bandung, West Java with a contract value of IDR 171,823,715,455.
According to the Labor Union, these projects are proof that Istaka Karya is not a Ghost BUMN and is still operating normally.
Even so, they admit that the current condition of the company is not so good. One of them is because it does not get full support from banks with the status of the PKPU process in which there has been an amicable decision between the company and creditors.
They also said that Istaka Karya experienced difficult conditions in 2019 and 2020, in 2019, which was a political year, making it difficult for companies to get projects. This is because many project tenders have been postponed until the election ends.
Not to mention that 2020, which was the year the COVID-19 pandemic hit Indonesia, caused all of the existing structures in Indonesia, both in the economic and other fields, to be affected. However, in 2021, the Labor Union stated that the company had slowly risen from the slump in employee salaries which had been 9 months arrears.
However, until now Istaka Karya is still included in the list of SOEs that will be disbanded. For information, previously, Erick said that there would be 7 SOEs that would be dissolved, including Merpati, Istaka Karya and 3 SOEs that had been previously disbanded.
As for 3 SOEs disbanded These are PT Kertas Kraft Aceh (Persero), PT Industri Glass (Persero) and PT Industri Sandang Nusantara (Persero).
See also the video ‘Erick Thohir Shows off SOE Profits Skyrocketing in the Midst of a Pandemic’:
(fdl/fdl)
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