TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Said Didu, former secretary of the ministry of state-owned enterprises, opined that Basuki Tjahaja Purnama or Ahok has quite heavy tasks as chief commissioner of Pertamina, such as demanding the repayment of state debt to Finance Minister Sri Mulyani.

“Ahok should have been given harder tasks. I will wait for him visiting the Finance Minister to collect the government’s debt including the military-related debt," he said during a discussion at Pulau Dua Restaurant, Jakarta, Thursday, December 19.

According to Said Didu, the government’s debt, including the TNI’s, to the state-run oil and gas company reached Rp70 trillion, increased from that of 2017 at Rp34 trillion. In May, the debt amounted to Rp41.6 trillion.

Didu observed that Pertamina seemed to hide the debt. Meanwhile, if the corporate succeeds to collect it, Pertamina could use the fund to develop the oil refineries project and improve its cash flow.

The former Jakarta governor was appointed as chief commissioner of Pertamina in the replacement of Tanri Abeng. He was asked to recover the corporate’s work performance which was considered low thus far.

Previously on Tuesday, December 10, Ahok pledged via his Instagram account @basukibtp that he would bring Pertamina as the world’s class oil and gas firm.

FRANCISCA CHRISTY ROSANA