Friday, February 16, 2007

Iwan Pontjo resigns, replaced by Hotbonar

Knowing that he has slim chance to be reappointed, Iwan Pontjowinoto said he'll tender his resignation as the CEO of PT Jamsostek at the shareholder meeting on Friday night as Hotbonar Sinaga, the chairman of Indonesian Insurance Council (DAI), was about to be the appointed as the new CEO.

In an interview with Detik.com minutes before the meeting, Mr Pontjo said even if shareholder reappoint him, he prefers to go. Meanwhile, Bisnis.com reported today that Hotbonar is the strongest candidate to replace Mr Pontjo.
The shareholder meeting, as reported by Detik.com few minutes ago, had finally appointed Hotbonar as the new Jamsostek CEO.

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Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Jamsostek management brawl

Jan 22, MSOE Sugiharto issued a decree to revoke Jamsostek's board of commissioner decision to oust Iwan Pontjowinoto from his posisiton as CEO. Sugiharto, a friend of Pontjowinoto, resumed the former Sharia Economy Society (MES) chairman to his position with off duty status.

The ministry hopes the latest decree would ultimately end the 1.5 year internal dispute at Jamsostek. Sugiharto appointed Wahyu Hidayat, official at the ministry, as interim deputy president director in charge of daily operation of Jamsostek.
The company's workers union regrets Sugiharto's decision even though some say that would be the most sensible thing to do to prevent further conflict in the state-owned company. Workers union supports BOC's decision to have Pontjowinoto ousted. But SOEs Workers Union Federation and SOEs legal aid institute (LBH BUMN) urged Sugiharto to replace BOC and Ahmad Andi (the one appointed by BOC to be interim CEO) instead. They even plan to file a report of power abuse to Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
As a worker with regular payment to Jamsostek for almost 15 years, I don't really care who will be the CEO or BOC of the company or which political group he/she is associated with. I care only about the return Jamsostek give for my investment over the last 15 years and the rights of millions of fellow workers in the country to get payments easily without being corrupted.

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Saturday, January 20, 2007

Iwan Pontjo ousted, Sugiharto rejects

Board of commissioners of state-owned social security company PT Jamsostek ousted Iwan Pontjowinoto from his post as CEO, Kompas Cyber Media reported.

The decree was signed by Prijono Tjiptoherjanto (president commissioner) with approval of three other commissioners last night. Why?
The board argued no chemistry between Mr Pontjowinoto, former managing director of state-owned investment bank PT Danareksa, and stakeholders. Jamsostek workers union had filed petition to replace Pontjowinoto. Jamsostek managed Indonesian workers fund of UD6 billion.
The board appointed Andi Ahmad M. Amien, director at Jamsostek, as interim CEO. What a mess in the board changes of SOEs in the last few months after what's happened at Bukit Asam, PGN, etc.
It's interesting to see MSOE Sugiharto's response to the crisis, especially the fact of their close relationship. Muhammad Said Didu, secretary to the ministry of SOEs, said Sugiharto sent a letter to BPKP (development & finance supervisory agency) asking for an audit on Jamsotek. I bet Sugiharto is buying time with the move.
Didu admitted the board of commissioners have the rights to oust Pontjowinoto according to the company's deed. "But whether the conditions met, I don't know yet."
On Sunday, Sugiharto defended Pontjowinoto saying his friend can't be ousted, unless he committed crime acts. The minister also defended Jamsostek's performance under Pontjowinoto's leadership.
SOEs Workers Union (SP BUMN) rallied behind Sugiharto and calling for replacement of Jamsostek board of commissioners instead. SP BUMN accused Jamsostek's workers union (SP Jamsostek) of politicking the replacement of Pontjowinoto.
Well, I bet both sides are playing politics. We need strong leadership of President SBY to end the dispute. Wouldn't he?

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Friday, December 15, 2006

PGN divestment closed at Rp11,350, behind the story

MSOE Sugiharto had finally decided to sell 185 million shares of PT PGN Tbk at Rp11,350, slightly above majority of submission at Rp11,300. As a result, the so-called Malaysia investor's offer at Rp12,000 dropped. What's up?

Bookbuilders (Danareksa, Bahana & Credit Suisse) had apparently met the 'investor' from Malaysia who wrote a letter to minister Sugiharto that he could buy PGN shares at Rp12,000 with closing date of transaction on December 22.
"But when we confronted him with some questions, he sais just ignore his letter to the minister and let's talk. He claimed that he has the money, but payment should be extended to two months," one investment banker involved in the transaction said.
The Malaysia investor has close friend HL, who is also the confidante of minister Sugiharto.
"Well, it looks good, but with the potential increase in share price in two months, you could easily suspect of something if you receive such offer," he further said.
But the Malaysian denied that. "The truth, brokerage firms hired by government asked as to put on the table last night at the amount of USD247 million while the mechanism is T+3," representative of the Malaysian I met this morning said.
"We have no connection with HL. We have direct relation with the minister himself," he said.
"I'm not surprised if later on you'll find Credit Suisse take all the benefits of this transaction. We told them that we have OSK behind us to support, not CIMB nor PNM, but they just didn't care," he complained.
When I asked him why not bought the shares in the market at cheaper price, he said, " because we know government will divest 5.31% shares and then we sent the offering letter last Thursday."
It means this guy got information from the ministry prior to the bookbuilding. The question, why the Malaysian guy didn't submit offer to bookbuilders?
"My analysis, Sugiharto's connection like AS mounts pressure like...see, Jamsostek and Malaysia's PNB are behind this investor, so you better entertain them. But if the guy is a qualified investor, he should have submitted the offer to bookbuilders, not to Sugiharto," an analyst said.
Hm...interesting. Let's wait what Sugiharto will say this afternoon.
Antara quoted M Said Didu, secretary to the ministry of SOEs, saying the Rp11,350/share already a record for Indonesia because this is the first time such divestment got premium price. He should read archives!

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Monday, July 10, 2006

The coup d'etat against Iwan Pontjowinoto

President Director of PT Jamsostek (Persero) Iwan Pontjowinoto, a close aide to minister of state owned enterprises Sugiharto, is facing a coup d'etat from workers and fellow board members.

Jamsostek workers union threathened to stage nationwide protest if government as shareholder failed to meet their demand to replace Mr Pontjowinoto, a former chairman of Sharia Economy Society (MES) and managing director at state-owned investment bank PT Danareksa (Persero). Workers described Pontjowinoto as an authoritarian leader and always intimidating other officers of the company.
Four board of directors joined the workers demanding the replacement and supported the vote of no-confidence in Pontjowinoto, the first of a kind in the country.
Internal rifts have put Mr Pontjowinoto on the hot seat, especially when he tried to give away Rp6 trillion of funds for stock trading to two state-owned investment banks, Danareksa and PT Bahana Securities. Board of commissioners and BOD vetoed Pontjowinoto's proposal though.
Jamsostek managed social security funds from 25 million workers in the country. As of December 2005, Jamsostek managed Rp36.85 trillion (US$4 billion) of which around US$2 billion invested in bonds and Rp14.75 trillion in bank deposits.
There are some reports of fishy deals at Jamsostek that have been filed to Corruption Eradication Commission. The previous CEO and investment director have been sentenced few years behind the bars in corruption cases.
But Sugiharto came quickly to defend Pontjowinoto saying government will keep the man in the job arguing the company's first quarter performance has been on track.

Read my previous posts on Jamsostek:
1) Iwan Pontjowinoto & our money
2) Jamsostek Airways
3) Shariah Principle on Jamsostek: Ooops...
4) Adi Sasono-Sugiharto Connection
5) Ahmad Djunaedi, the fugitive

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Saturday, May 20, 2006

Gov't want to buy, Cemex rejects

Indonesia government had decided to exercise its rights to acquire Cemex SA's 25.53% shares in state-owned cement maker PT Semen Gresik Tbk through a consortium of SOEs, but Cemex is most likely reject the offer.


SOE Minister Sugiharto told the press after a meeting with coordinating minister for the economy Dr Boediono that government had sent the letter of intent to Cemex.
"But it's up to Cemex to decide," he said.
Bisnis Indonesia reported that Sugiharto asked Cemex to give two months time to exercise the right.
"The problem, legally according CSPA between government and Cemex in 1998, government can't transfer the right to buy. The legal opinion is that government has no legal basis to assign rights and to seek extension," source at the ministry said.
So, it's a matter of interpretation of the CSPA. Sugiharto (and Vice President Jusuf Kalla) argued that government could buy the shares outside the budget mechanism deploying SOEs.
SOEs like Jamsostek, Taspen, and Danareksa---all fund management companies would act on behalf of the government to buy after government decided to use its first right of refusal. This is not a surprise. Jamsostek led by Iwan Pontjowinoto (Sugiharto's colleague at Sharia Economy Society) claimed financing support for government to rescue the ailing flagship carrier Garuda Indonesia just days after Sugiharto openly said about the option to divest up to 49% shares of Garuda.
Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati had turned down Sugiharto's proposal on Cemex arguing no state budget allocated but she said that she could understand if Sugiharto take another options.
But even if these SOEs would be allowed to buy, it's not easy to raise equity or to rely on their own funding. Bisnis Indonesia reported that Sugiharto have approached international lenders such as Macquarie Bank, UOB (Singapore), West LB (Germany), and Presidio Advisors (in partnership with PT Andalas Tuah Sakato, a company owned by West Sumatra administration). These companies claimed US$400 million funding in hands.
Cemex, reportedly, rejects the offer and only want to sell the shares to Indonesian company Rajawali Corporation owned by Peter Sondakh at US$337 million. Cemex and Rajawali had signed the conditional sales and purchase agreement (CSPA)to bring an end to long legal dispute with government.
So, the card is in Cemex's hands now. If the company reject Sugiharto's proposal and go ahead with the deal with Rajawali, I think Rajawali would feel the heat. But definitely it's also depend on how Rajawali deal with the government officers like Kalla and Sugiharto at the national level and local leaders in West Sumatra, East Java, and South Sulawesi---the locations of Semen Gresik's operations.

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Saturday, March 11, 2006

Jamsostek Airways

As a worker, the company I work for normally cut few dollars from my already small monthly salary for the workers social security. Payments made to PT Jaminan Sosial Tenaga Kerja (Jamsostek).
Total funds under its management currently reached Rp40 trillion, almost US$4.4 billion. What Jamsostek do with the workers money? Buy stocks, bonds, or other financial instruments. Sometimes they give loans to companies, became bad debts, workers simply can't protest. And just recently Jamsostek planned to invest US$63 million in the technically bankrupt airline PT Garuda Indonesia.
If Jamsostek materialize the plan, and approved by government, we might consider to rename Garuda Indonesia Airways into Jamsostek Airways. Fellow workers, fasten your seat belt, because your pension funds might crash accordingly.

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Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Electricity shock on Widiono & SBY

The real test in president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's drive to eradicate corruption is the recent mark-up alegation on directors of state-owned electricity monopolist PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN).
Three directors have been named suspects in the case. But people wonders whether the chief executive officer Mr Eddie Widiono Suwondho would also be named a suspect.
Eddie Widiono is son of the late retired general Suwondho, a military figure that the president respect so much. General Suwondho was former Brawijaya commander in East Java with seven sons and daughters.
Widorini S. Sukardono alias Rini Suwondho, Widiono's older sister, owns a company (PT Surya Kepanjen) that was reportedly involved in importing of Scorpion tanks for Indonesian army in 1990s in cooperation with Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana (Mbak Tutut, daughter of former president Soeharto).
Widiono has survived three Indonesian presidents so far. President Abdurrahman Wahid appointed him in March 2001 to replace Kuntoro Mangkusubroto (currently head of Aceh Reconstruction). President Megawati Soekarnoputri maintained his job and during this period PLN built the project in Palembang, South Sumatra that is at the center of the corruption charges to the company's directors.
Widiono had been summoned three times by the police but only as witness. The way the police handle PLN's case is very much different with previous cases on other state-owned enterprises like Bank Mandiri or Jamsostek. CEO of Mandiri (ECW Neloe) and Jamsostek (Ahmad Junaidi) were quickly named as suspects and detained for corruption charges as well, along with some directors. Former IBRA Chairman Syafruddin Temenggung also named suspect last week. All of these guys are closely linked to either Megawati or his husband Taufik Kiemas.
Widiono also once linked to Taufik and Megawati, but sources told that during the presidential election in 2004, Widiono also supported SBY camp.
Born in Malang, East Java in 1953, Widiono started his career in PLN. He graduated in electrical engineering from Bandung Institute of Technology. He also holds master's degree in engineering from University of London.

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Friday, July 08, 2005

The Fugitives (3): Achmad Djunaedi

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It’s just so easy for big guys like Achmad Djunaedi, former president director of PT Jamsostek, the monopoly on worker’s fund management to get the exit permit stamp at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta for overseas travels.

Even if you are not a millionaire, you could just relax at one of the coffee shops while someone is taking care of your immigration permit along with its boarding pass with only Rp200,000 or US$20 fee.

So when director general of immigration got the letter from attorney general stating that Mr Djunaedi is forbidden for any overseas travel on July 4, 2005, it was just a piece of paper. The main suspect in a Rp250 billion (US$25 million) corruption case, Mr Djunaedi managed to get the clear stamp from Jakarta Immigration Office on July 5, 2005 and boarded safely to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage.

Djunaedi is smart enough to prepare his pilgrimage while investigators summoned him late last month. That time, he was still a witness for his former colleague Mr Andi Rahman Alamsyah who already tipped as key suspect in corruption case of buying subordinated bonds issued by PT Bank Global Tbk. Government closed down the bank late last year with its key suspect and owner Irawan Salim also a fugitive since then.

Kompas wrote an article today titled Suspect went overseas, Attorney General Upset. Upset? AG, as the newspaper reported, criticized directorate general of immigration for letting Djunaedi go overseas.

Well, in this case, it is not just immigration office that should be blamed on. The AGO should take the responsibility for not detaining Djunaedi. Public was cheering AG when board members of Bank Mandiri detained all at once despite guarantee letter signed by prominent politicians for those bankers.

Off course we should reserve positive thinking that Djunaedi is on a pilgrimage and will back home soon. But who knows if that’s going to be a lifetime pilgrimage? For the time being, let’s put Djunaedi on our fugitive list. Someone should also investigate why AGO let this happen? Is there any conspiracy between AGO and Djunaedi?

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Thursday, June 16, 2005

Iwan Pontjowinoto and our money

My office normally cut Rp85,000 per month from my salary (which is already low) and send the money to PT Jamsostek. I can’t argue with accounting guys since it is a must, dictated by law. Otherwise, my office could be prosecuted of being against the law. Every six months, normally, I get status report of how much principal and accrued interests or yield, whatever is the name, had accumulated in my account at Jamsostek.

Frankly, I never really take a look at the report. First, the principal amount is just too small even though I’ve been Jamsostek member for more than a decade. Second, my colleges said don’t ever think to get the money easily back.

But when I think of number of co-workers, 400 staffs, that pay the bills to Jamsostek, I started to seriously reconsider my carelessness. My first question was, whether my fellow workers, and so millions of Indonesian workers, get better yields from their investment in Jamsostek.

So I decided to look at the yield column in my account statement. With simple math, I found that yield for 2004 was 8.5%, lot better than interest rates in my bank account.

My curiosity went further with an article published by The Jakarta Post (June 16, 2005) titled Jamsostek to invest more in stocks. The reporter quoted Iwan Pontjowinoto, newly appointed president director of the company. Mr Pontjo said Jamsostek is about to invest at least 15% of its total investment portfolio in stocks this year. How much is the total? Rp40 trillion or equals to US$4.2 billion. It means that Mr Pontjo will invest Rp6 trillion in stocks, increased dramatically from Rp3.44 trillion last year’s.

“Yields from investment in stocks are higher than any other investment portfolio,” he argued.

In the last paragraph, The Post quoted Mr Pontjo saying Jamsostek will invest more on government bonds this year though to help plug the state budget deficit. What? I hope Mr Pontjo as investment manager for all workers in Indonesia reconsider his motive. Jamsostek is not a political venture. By law, Jamsostek should put worker’s interest as an ultimate motive on its investment decision, not to serve political interests like state budget.

Good news is Mr Pontjo promised to give higher yields for my investment at Jamsostek this year onwards. Besides, he also pledged to simplify procedures, including implementation of IT system (he worked for IBM many years) so I could check my account easily.

History is important though. I don’t want to be skeptic on Mr Pontjo. He is an investment banker, former director of PT Danareksa (Persero), the state-owned investment bank. Even though we have to remember that he left the company in 2001 with Rp2.65 trillion debts and productive assets of Rp1.5 trillion only.

In addition to that, Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) found 10 irregularities in Danareksa with potential loss of hundreds billion rupiah. One of BPK’s findings was cross currency swap facility given to PT Jakarta International Hotel and Development (JIHD) which end up with Rp70.8 billion loss for Danareksa.

Unfortunately, none of Danareksa’s board of directors being prosecuted, in contrast with recent investigation on Bank Mandiri loan irregularities.

Now, we have Mr Pontjo at the helm of an important fund management company in the country. Sources at the ministry of state-owned enterprise (SOE) said his appointment was mainly minister Sugiharto’s decision, supported by Aries Mufti (expert staff at SOE ministry). Sugiharto and Muftie were board members of Sharia Economic Society (Masyarakat Ekonomi Syariah, MES) where Mr Pontjo is the chairman.

Well, my friend told me nothing wrong with that as long as he could give better yields for workers who pay regularly and as long as he will not lead Jamsostek to debt-ridden company like Danareksa simply because of misallocation of funds under management. So, watch your investment.

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Thursday, May 12, 2005

Cabinet Hall of Shame!

While too early to conclude, president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono already shown signs that he might reshuffle cabinet lineup. In fact former minister Kwik Kian Gie, a close friend of Mrs Megawati Soekarnoputri (former president), had proposed cabinet restructuring to President Yudhoyono. Kwik claimed Yudhoyono warmly welcome his proposal for smaller number of ministers, say around 20, very much downsized from the current 34.

We don’t know exactly when he might do that or who might be kicked out. If newspaper articles could be considered valuable source of backgrounds, several ministers surely under public scrutiny and might be the target. Below could be some of them.

Hamid Awalludin (minister of justice and human rights affairs). Hamid might be inflicted by corruption scandal at General Election Committee (KPU) where he is accused of getting US$105,000. Hamid denied the allegation.

Rahmat Witoelar, minister for environment affairs. House Committee on waste materials import accused Witoelar of inadequate response to solve the increasing influx of dangerous waste materials to the country.

Aburizal Bakrie, chief economic minister. Some economists attacked his incapability in handling economic team under SBY’s cabinet. Besides, one company called PT Bakrie Telecom, a subsidiary of Bakrie & Brothers (Aburizal is the owner), is under investigation of loan irregularities at Bank Mandiri. Aburizal denied any wrongdoing on the loan. Aburizal was one of the largest bad debtors in the country with about US$500 million.

Yusril Ihza Mahendra, minister of state secretary. He is the leader of Partai Bulan Bintang (Crescent Star Party). Rumors said investigation on Bank Mandiri’s loan to PT Domba Mas might disclose relationship between Yusril and Susanto (owner of Domba Mas). Susanto is rumored to be major financier for Crescent Star Party.

Adhiyaksa Dault, Minister for sport and youngster affairs. He was missed a discussion on sport conducted by journalist as he was sleeping beauty and awoke late. It was late October 2004, just weeks after his appointment as minister by SBY.

Sugiharto, Minister of State Owned Enterprises. He installed two of his friends at Sharia Economic Society (MES) as expert staffs at the ministry. Sugiharto was treasury of MES. He also appointed chairman of MES as president director of Jamsostek while the man is accused of put Jamsostek into financial loses when he was director of Danareksa. Jamsostek losses were US$8 million, but no investigation ever conducted. Sugiharto also wrote a letter to Vice President Jusuf Kalla regarding names to be promoted as directors of SOEs.

Muhammad Mar’uf, minister for internal affairs. He installed four Makassar-born officers out of 11 newly appointed first echelon staffs at the ministry. Makassar is hometown of Jusuf Kalla. He denied ethnic-based appointment, saying it just a coincidence.

The list of Cabinet Hall of Shame could be longer in the next few weeks.

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Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Payday

In a country where one third of the economy is controlled by state-owned enterprises with huge political intervention, the selection of its executives often neglects merit system. No matter how good is your professional achievement, if you never invest in political process you will end up only in private-owned enterprises.

No matter how bad is your track record, a close relationship with power holders, is surely valuable to be CEO of state-owned enterprise. And even if you made political investment but went to wrong party, you had risked your job.

Some might say, this argument is only valid under Soeharto’s 32-years authoritarian regime. Especially for those who believe reform (reformasi) movement has changed the way we govern the country.

But wait a minute! Is it a coincidence that different presidents have different CEOs of SOEs?

Look at Pertamina, the largest SOE in Indonesia. Soeharto had Faisal Abdaoe as the last CEO, then BJ Habibie with Martiono Hadianto, Abdurrahman Wahid with Baihaki Hakim, Megawati with Arifi Nawawi and Widya Purnama, and now SBY about to kick Widya out and will have new appointee there. First round already started with major shakeup in board of commissioners where Martiono now as the chairman.

And PT Telkom, the largest listed company in Jakarta Stock Exchange. AA Nasution under Soeharto and Habibie, then Muhammad Nazief under Wahid, and Kristiono under Megawati. In the last few months, many parties have tried to get Kristiono’s post.

The same could be seen in almost all SOEs, especially big companies like Bank Mandiri (the largest bank), Garuda Indonesia (flag carrier), or Jamsostek (the monopoly on social security). SOE Minister Sugiharto just installed new boards in Garuda and Jamsostek. Bank Mandiri will be the next. Partly because of poor handling of bad loans related to high profile businessmen or former military officers, and probably of strong affiliation with previous presidents (Wahid and Megawati).

Analyst Lin Che Wei is seen as the strongest candidate to lead Danareksa (largest investment bank). Che Wei is an advisor for Sugiharto. Is it because of Zas Ureawan’s (current CEO) poor performance? Is it because of corruption committed by the board? Is it because his close relationship with Taufik Kiemas (Megawati’s husband) and bet on looser candidate in presidential election?

Surely most of the executives in SOEs made political investments (not necessarily ideological) but some made right investment (to the winning candidate) and some wrongly and publicly supported the looser. It’s payday for those winning investors. It is the winner takes all.

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Saturday, April 09, 2005

Syariah principle on Jamsostek, oops on cronysm

A staunch proponent syariah guy has been appointed as CEO of PT Jamsostek, the holder of monopoly rights of millions of Indonesian worker’s social security insurance and the largest player in Indonesian financial market with Rp33 trillions of assets under its management.

I didn’t realize when state-owned enterprises minister Sugiharto said few days ago that Jamsostek should implement more Syariah principles in its businesses. Hopefully the appointment of Mr Iwan Pontjowinoto is not a mere justification of Sugiharto’s decision.

We have to understand that Mr Pontjowinoto is the chairman of Syariah Economic Society (Masyarakat Ekonomi Syariah) where Sugiharto was one of its board members.
It is not clear what kind of syariah principles to be implemented at Jamsostek by Mr Pontjowinoto, a former managing director of state-owned investment banking company PT Danareksa, clearly not run with syariah principles in his tenure.
Neither is clear whether it means Jamsostek will significantly overhauls its investment portfolios, which are heavily in the stock market and financial market instruments.

But one thing is clear that Iskandar Z Rangkuti also appointed as director of Jamsostek in charge of investment. Rangkuti was former director of PT Bank Syariah Mandiri, a wholly owned subsidiary of state-owned PT Bank Mandiri. Bank Syariah Mandiri is running a bank according to syariah principles.
Before the formal assignment, Rangkuti told the press that he will introduce syariah mission into Jamsostek.

Should this happen, the law on worker’s insurance must be changed. Jamsostek is not only take care of Moslem workers, but other faiths, so by law, Jamsostek is a secular institution regardless of faiths. Should Jamsostek be directed according to syariah principles, there must be another institution for those who don’t want syariah principles, in other words we should strip off Jamsostek’s monopoly.

On the investment side, last year, Jamsostek invested almost 44% of its funds in bank deposits and 43% in bonds, both earning interests, which is not line with syariah principles. Any changes in the portfolio allocation will have significant impact on Indonesian financial market and syariah instruments will boost accordingly.

But since Jamsostek should return the funds to workers, government and board of directors of Jamsostek should ask first the workers whether they accept the syariah principles and its impacts on their investment.

Except that the appointment of new board has nothing to do with the new direction of Jamsostek or just a justification for Mr Sugiharto to put his friends there.
It is nice to expect that the syariah-leaning guys at the helm of Jamsostek will combat the corruptive mentality with syariah principles as well and to put corruptors in jail. That’s syariah.

Other figure, Tjarda Muchtar, appointed as director, is a Golkar (the largest political party in Indonesia) politician and a close friend of Manpower and Transmigration Minister Fahmi Idris. In combination with Mr Pontjo, the board changes, is only confirming the fact that nothing changed in government’s policy regarding SOEs. Forget about merit system. Juts like old days, it is just about political appointees.

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