Sri Mulyani on Harleygate: It is Betrayal of the State by SOEs Officials
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani accompanied by SOEs Minister and Director General of Customs and Excise reviews smuggled Harley Davidson motorcycles and Brompton folding bicycles, during a press statement at the Ministry of Finance Office, Jakarta, Thursday (5/12). (Photo by: Sri Mulyani’s Facebook)
In the wake of smuggling case of Harley Davidson motorcycles and Brompton folding bicycles via state-owned flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Erick Thohir and Ministry of Finance’s Director General of Customs and Excise Heru Pambudi on Thursday (5/12) gave a press statement at the Ministry of Finance office, Jakarta.
Sri Mulyani unveiled that on 17 November 2019, Garuda Indonesian GA 9721 Airbus 330-900 NEO aircraft landed at Soekarno-Hatta airport in Tangerang in Banten province from Airbus base in Toulouse, France and moved straight to Garuda Maintenance Facility (GMF) AeroAsia hangar.
Afterwards, customs officers inspected cargo of passenger baggage and found 15 packages containing disassembled Harley Davidson motorcycle parts with a baggage claim tag on behalf of SAS and 3 packages containing 2 units of Brompton M6L Explore folding bicycles and accessories on behalf of LS, all of which were not declared.
“Those imported passengers’ goods were not declared. Customs and Excise officers continued to conduct checks on violations of laws and customs regulations both civil and criminal code,” Sri Mulyani wrote on her Facebook fan page on Thursday (5/12).
“This incident is also a betrayal of public trust committed by SOEs officials. SOEs as state property owned by the people of Indonesia and at the same time as an instrument of development should be managed with honesty, professionalism, competence, and integrity; rather it was misused for personal gain and corruption,” said Sri Mulyani, while urging all parties to protect Indonesia from corruption acts that harm the country’s economy.
“Keep the territory of Indonesia free from smuggling crimes,” Sri Mulyani wrote.
In the meantime, SOEs Minister Erick Tohir delivered an explanation of the Audit Committee report and the Garuda Commissioner Report on the incident, which showed violations in the areas of corporate governance, ethics, and licensing by Garuda Indonesia directors.
Erick considered that the incident has damaged reputation of state-owned flag carrier Garuda Indonesia as a public company and a national flag carrier. (ES)
Translated by: Muhardi
Reviewed by: M. Ersan Pamungkas
