KPK must Monitor Credit Funds of BPK Kaltim

Source: Daily Terbit

JAKARTA - Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Transparansi Otonomi Daerah (Transpoda) requested the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to oversee the credit channeling worth of Rp 219.000.000.000 by the Regional Development Banks (BPD) of East Kalimantan (Kaltim) to a company PT AUS. They worry that the credit will become a problem in the future.

“There was an allegation that the credit funds were not used for the development and management of oil palm plantations belongs to the people. This allegation comes after seeing a very slow process of plantation development, said spokesman of Transpoda”, Ahmad Dede Kurnia in Jakarta, Sunday (10/1).

Dede Kurnia said that legally, the party applying for a loan was indeed a community cooperative as plasma farmer. However, the corporate guarantor was PT AUS. The fact was that PT AUS also manages and uses the credit funds. Therefore, it can be said that the substantial creditor is PT AUS.

As already known, BPD Kaltim disburse the credit worth around Rp 219 billion which is realized in July 2009 for the purposes of development and management of community’s oil palm plasma plantations in the area of 1200 hectares in Kutai Kartanegara.

He said that almost all plantation development schedule starting from land clearing, construction of roads, construction of drainage until seeding time deviated from the limit that have previously set.”

“If in the end the people's plantation development fails then most likely the loans of PT AUS will be bad and that means financial losses have led to the state.

In addition, if the people’s plantation development by PT AUS fails then it will surely cause the loss for the local people as the owners and possibly also as oil palm plantation workers.

Moreover, Dede Kurnia continued, the physical guarantee of that loan is the plantation areas that are currently being developed. (kinoy)