2 State Officials Reported to KPK Over PCR 'Funny Business'

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Just and Prosperous People Party (PRIMA) on Thursday officially filed a report to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) against two state officials over suspicions of their involvement in the country’s polymerase chain reaction (PCR) business.

The two state officials in PRIMA’s KPK report are Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan and State-owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir. 

The political party’s deputy chairperson Alif Kamal on November 4 said; “In the middle of a public restlessness during a pandemic, the economy that has yet recovered, we hear there are officials in the PCR business.”

Kamal also explained that the ever changing rules about the cost of PCR services also motivated them to report the officials to KPK. He added that the general public does not even know the base cost of the Covid swab test until this moment. 

The KPK report, he added, is aimed to prevent the rumor from running wild without any substantial evidence and that the anti-graft agency could put this controversy to rest. 

“How much profit does the government or businesses get, does the profit enter the treasury fund or where does the profit go, all of these have made us restless,” said Kamal who brought a copy of Tempo Magazine - which reported the initial finding regarding the PCR brouhaha - with him as a piece of evidence. 

In addressing the allegation, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan through his Instagram account responded to the Tempo article and strongly denied his involvement.

“I have never, not even the least, personally benefited from the business run by PT Genomik Solidaritas Indonesia,” said the Minister on November 3. 

Read: 5 Wealthiest Ministers in Jokowi Administration

ANDITA RAHMA | MAJALAH TEMPO