TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati responded to a circulated hoax news on social media saying she planned to sell islands in Bali to pay the state debt. Through an Instagram official account @smindrawati, Sri Mulyani said the news was initially brought up in October 2017 noting her statement “If the public agrees, we will sell Bali regions to pay the debt.”
The news link had been removed and the administrator of the website went missing. However, Sri Mulyani said, a Facebook account under named Sandy Yah uploaded the screenshot photo of the news on August 10. The post gained many comments and was widely shared.
“The news is defamation and untrue! The Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) is not for sale. We maintain the sovereignty and its independence since NKRI is proclaimed by our Nation Leaders, by the development programs across the regions, to create a prosperous and just Indonesian people,” as quoted from the minister’s Instagram account @smindrawati, on Sunday, August 12.
Sri Mulyani asserted preserving the sovereignty of Indonesia is the 1945 Constitutional Mandate which is implemented consistently and with full of responsibility. “We also determine to carefully and responsibly save the State Finance, State Budget (APBN) and state debt regulation,” she said.
According to her, it is impossible for the government to secretly sale an island considering state finance, APBN, and state debt were discussed and ratified by the House of Representatives (DPR) in Law of APBN. “APBN Law is reviewed and audited by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) and accountable before the DPR. All information, data, and policies were openly discussed and transparently delivered to the public through the ministry’s website,” she underlined.
Sri Mulyani called on the public to be careful and not believe any defamation issue and hoax news. The spread of defamation, according to her, was deliberately circulated to attack the government, fiscal policy, and state finance as well as the minister herself.
“We will take a legal action to the creator and spreader of that hoax news which is an owner of the account named Sandy Yah,” Sri Mulyani added.
MUHAMMAD HENDARTYO
