TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Two decades into the reformasi (reform) era, the military and the police are still engaged in tussles over business interests-something of a normalcy in the New Order era. In Kotabaru, South Kalimantan, when two companies were entangled in a coal mine and oil palm plantation dispute, both armed institutions were involved all the way to their top-level commanders.
The dispute began with Sebuku Iron Lateritic Ores's (SILO) and Multi Sarana Agro Mandiri's (MSAM) business activities in Kalimantan. SILO owns an iron ore mine on Sebuku Island, South Kalimantan. When SILO built an ore refinery in 2015, the company supplied its demand for energy by mining coal on Laut Island, also in South Kalimantan. Three companies in the group held mining permits.
Almost at the same time, on land owned by Inhutani adjacent to SILO's coal mining area, MSAM established an oil palm plantation. The dispute between the two companies broke out when SILO claimed that MSAM had encroached on its concession area.
But MSAM is no ordinary company; it is owned by Andi Syamsuddin Arsyad, known as Haji Isam, a coal mining tycoon close to senior police officers. During its dispute with SILO, MSAM mobilized Police Mobile Brigade personnel to plant oil palm trees.
It is unclear who gave the orders, but police officers began questioning people who were either opposed to MSAM's oil palm plantation or were in support of SILO's mine. Feeling pressured by the police, SILO sought military protection and employed soldiers to guard the company's mining area. Three army cooperatives also engaged in business with the company, in violation of the Indonesian Military (TNI) law.
After a 'harmony' was achieved between the two companies, things changed when General Gatot Nurmantyo was replaced as TNI commander by Air Marshall Hadi Tjahjanto. The new commander immediately pulled TNI personnel out of the mining area. Syamsuddin, supported by South Kalimantan Governor Sahbirin Noor, now has the upper hand. At the start of 2018, Sahbirin revoked SILO's coal mining permit. The dispute went to court after SILO launched a legal challenge to the permit cancellation.
Governor Sahbirin should not have misused his authority by taking the side of one party in the dispute. A decision to either issue or revoke a mining permit must be based entirely on the interest of public welfare.
Moreover, senior police and army officers should immediately end their involvement. The two companies must resolve their differences in court, without dragging state institutions into their dispute. Marshall Hadi was right to withdraw troops and close down TNI cooperatives at SILO. Police personnel who appear to be in support of MSAM should follow suit.
Senior TNI and National Police officers should not make the same mistakes their seniors made in the New Order era when both institutions were joined under the Indonesian Armed Forces and would often do business. Furthermore, security services were also being sold at the unit level.
These practices were seen as appropriate-if not actually made legal-because they made up for the shortfall in state funding. Senior military officers made it legal to run businesses for the sake of improving the welfare of soldiers and their families. Former President Suharto had already begun building alliances with businessmen when he was commander of the Diponegoro Military Region; these were partnerships that allowed him to stay in power for 32 years.
Military and police businesses have produced countless negative impacts. For example, the armed forces were seen as an intermediary in support of spurious capitalism. Military businesses fertilized corruption and collusion, causing them to flourish. Furthermore, the army's and the police's involvements in businesses have injured both institutions' professionalism.
Twenty years since the start of the reformasi era, the state can now provide more adequate funding for the military and the police, although things are not yet ideal. It would be a setback indeed if these institutions' senior officers were to simply repeat old habits.
Read the full article in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine
