Ministry investigates alleged corruption in national exam printing tender

Jakarta, NU Online
The Ministry of Education and Culture is investigating a watchdog’s allegation of possible corruption during the tender process of the national exam printing.<>

“As ordered by the minister, the inspectorate general of the ministry is investigating the tender process,” Ibnu Hamad, spokesman of the ministry, told Jakarta Globe on Tuesday. “There’s auditor checking into the tender process.”

The call for investigation of the tender process came after the national exam was postponed in 11 provinces after one of the companies that won the printing tender failed to deliver the test on time.

The Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) earlier alleged that there were irregularities during the tender that appointed printing company Ghalia Indonesia Printing.

The ministry opened the tender process at Rp 27.1 billion ($2.79 million). Ghalia offered to do the job for Rp 22.49 billion. It won the tender even though other companies offered lowered prices. Aneka Ilmu, for instance, put in a bid for Rp 17.107 billion, while Jasuindo Tiga Perkasa bid at Rp 21.171 billion and Balebat Dedikasi Prima offered to do it for Rp 21.61 billion.

Ghalia, which was supposed to hire 500 workers to complete the project, only hired 65 people. The president director of the printing company, Hamzah Lukman, said that he had difficulties handling the work with the limited number of human resources.

Ibnu did not explain why Ghalia won the tender with a higher price, stating that media should wait for the result of the investigation.

“The ministry, specifically, the research and development division of the ministry, had received letter from the Business Competition Supervisory Commission [KPPU] to clarify this problem tomorrow [Wednesday],” Ibnu said. “So, please just wait for the explanation of the tender committee from the KPPU. The KPPU may be the one that will explain to the public, why the six could win the tender.”

The delay in administering the test, which accounts for 60 percent of a student’s final mark to determine whether they will graduate from high school, has impacted millions of students across the country.

“The number of students in the 11 provinces are 1.1 million in 3,601 high schools and 1,508 vocational schools. The other 22 provinces, including Jakarta, are ready to start the exam tomorrow [Monday],” Education and Cultural Minister Muhammad Nuh said, as quoted by his ministry’s website, on Sunday.

Editor: Sudarto Murtaufiq