Ramba denies sale of Jatirarangon stake

Rangga D Fadilah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 11/08/2011 1:43 PM

Ramba Energy on Tuesday denied that it had sold its 70 percent stake in the Jatirarangon block in Bekasi, West Java, saying that the company had not made any decision regarding offers from interested parties.

The company’s non-executive chairman, Tan Chong Huat, said that while it had been approached by several parties interested in the stake, it had neither entered into any discussion nor accepted any offer or proposal from any of them.

“The company will make further announcements to inform shareholders of any updates when necessary,” Tan says in a statement sent to The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

As reported earlier, Petross Energy said it had bought Ramba’s stake in the Jatirarangon block. The company said that the signing of the conditional sales purchase agreement (CSPA) will be conducted in the second week of this month.

The block produces 6.8 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscfd) and 80 barrels of oil per day (bpd).

House denies receiving Rp 168m a year for phone bills

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 05/11/2011 10:19 PM | National

House deputy speaker Anis Matta denied on Wednesday allegations that legislators have been receiving Rp 168 million (US$19,656) in phone credit allowances every year and another Rp 102 million during five recess sessions.

He said phone credit allowances for House members were not that much.

The Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (FITRA) released its latest report that showed that every legislator at the House of Representatives receives Rp 14 million in phone credit every month. They also receive Rp 20 million in communication allowances during every recess session.

“Not that much. Not even half,” Anis said as quoted by kompas.com.

He also said that FITRA might have meant to report the House's budget for lawmakers' political communications allowances and not their phone credit allowances.

Golkar Party legislator Basuki T Purnama said he had never received such an amount. He said he received Rp 7 to 8 million every month for political communications.

National Mandate Party (PAN) faction secretary Teguh Juwarno said he had not paid much attention to how much he received every month because the money always went straight into his bank account.

“Look, I'm trying to find out if [FITRA's data] is correct or not because [lawmakers] don’t feel like [they have been receiving that much]. But I don't want to be pretentious. I don't know what the actual number for communication allowances is ... but I'm not sure it's that much,” he said.

AGO denies that Gayus demand was weak

Mariel Grazella, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 01/22/2011 8:39 AM | National

The Attorney General's Office denies that the conviction it demanded judges hand down to tax graft convict Gayus H. Tambunan was weak.

"I don't understand why some say that the conviction demand was poor," Attorney General Basrief Arief said.

He added that all four articles that the prosecutors had accused Gayus of violating were proven in court.

"Gayus was proven guilty by the judges on all four accounts," he said.

He added that he appreciated the judges' decision but would push forward for an appeal.

Although judges found Gayus guilty on four accounts by prosecutors, judges convicted Gayus to seven out of the 20 years' imprisonment demanded by prosecutors.

PAN denies Dems, Golkar domination in ruling coalition joint secretariat

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 01/02/2011 10:55 PM | National

National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Hatta Rajasa denied Sunday that the ruling coalition joint secretariat was dominated by two major parties, the Democratic and the Golkar Party.

“I do not see that way. I feel all parties have equal position. There is no discrimination whether the party is big or small when discussing something,” he said as quoted by kompas.com

Other parties in the ruling coalition joint secretariat includes the Prosperous Justice Party, the National Awakening Party, and the United Development Party