P2 THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF VIOLENCE IN MALUKU
The Eka Tjipta Widjaja family is the owner of the Sinar Mas group of companies, which includes PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology (SMART). SMART is chaired by General Yoga Sugama, a relative and business partner of the Suharto family and former head of the Indonesian intelligence agency, BAKIN. A SMART subsidiary, PT Global Agronusa Indonesia, runs a banana plantation in Halmahera, in a joint venture with US fruit giant Del Monte.
Prajogo Pangestu owns the Barito Pacific group, in which two Suharto children, Tutut and Bambang, Suharto's son-in-law Indra Rukmana and two younger brothers (Ibnu Hartomo and Bernard Ibnu Hardoyo) of Tien Suharto, Suharto's late wife, have shares and/or management positions. Barito Pacific owns the largest number of forest licenses in Indonesia (52 areas) with a total of more than 5 million hectares.
Prajogo is also one of the largest contributors to the Suharto clique. In l990, Indoverbank NV in the Netherlands received US$225 million in the name of three foundations chaired by Suharto — Supersemar, Dharmais, Dakab — transferred from Prajogo's account at the Singapore branch of Citibank and BDN, Jakarta.
Prajogo's "treasury" in Maluku is enormous. Barito Pacific controls 10 timber concessions covering nearly one million hectares of forest in Maluku which feed the group's several plywood factories. Some of these companies are joint ventures with charities owned by the armed forces, as well as with the Poleko group, owned by A.A. Baramuli, a crony of former president B.J. Habibie.
The Suharto clique and the generals who are against the reforms of President Wahid have another source of funds in Maluku. Tommy Winata, the boss of the Artha Graha group and close friend of Yorris Raweyai, is a shareholder in the PT Ting Sheen Bandasejahtera. This fishing company has invested US$200 million to catch 2.5 million tonnes of fish per year in the Banda Sea. It is a joint venture with Bambang Trihatmodjo and a Taiwanese company.
The conflict in Maluku is an extension of the political struggles in Jakarta. Disgruntled generals feel that the army's powers have been curtailed with the appointment of the new commander in chief from the navy, Admiral Widodo Adi Sujipto. They are trying to show that the new chief is incapable of controlling the situation in Maluku.
This group of generals, who have the most at stake in maintaining the armed forces "dual function", are trying to demonstrate that the army is still needed as the "peace-maker" in a civil society prone to conflict.
In addition, certain Muslim groups which feel they have not been given an appropriate share in the Wahid-Megawati government and that Wahid has given too many concessions to the Chinese and Christian minorities in Indonesia, are using the Maluku unrest to call for a holy war (jihad) to bring down the administration headed by the liberal cleric and the secular nationalist.
Behind all this, the one who stands to gain the most is Suharto, his family and his cronies. The political troubles hinder serious efforts to bring them to court to account for their political and economic crimes. They benefit from disturbances that serve to perpetuate the armed forces' "dual function".
https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/political-economy-violence-maluku
Prajogo Pangestu owns the Barito Pacific group, in which two Suharto children, Tutut and Bambang, Suharto's son-in-law Indra Rukmana and two younger brothers (Ibnu Hartomo and Bernard Ibnu Hardoyo) of Tien Suharto, Suharto's late wife, have shares and/or management positions. Barito Pacific owns the largest number of forest licenses in Indonesia (52 areas) with a total of more than 5 million hectares.
Prajogo is also one of the largest contributors to the Suharto clique. In l990, Indoverbank NV in the Netherlands received US$225 million in the name of three foundations chaired by Suharto — Supersemar, Dharmais, Dakab — transferred from Prajogo's account at the Singapore branch of Citibank and BDN, Jakarta.
Prajogo's "treasury" in Maluku is enormous. Barito Pacific controls 10 timber concessions covering nearly one million hectares of forest in Maluku which feed the group's several plywood factories. Some of these companies are joint ventures with charities owned by the armed forces, as well as with the Poleko group, owned by A.A. Baramuli, a crony of former president B.J. Habibie.
The Suharto clique and the generals who are against the reforms of President Wahid have another source of funds in Maluku. Tommy Winata, the boss of the Artha Graha group and close friend of Yorris Raweyai, is a shareholder in the PT Ting Sheen Bandasejahtera. This fishing company has invested US$200 million to catch 2.5 million tonnes of fish per year in the Banda Sea. It is a joint venture with Bambang Trihatmodjo and a Taiwanese company.
The conflict in Maluku is an extension of the political struggles in Jakarta. Disgruntled generals feel that the army's powers have been curtailed with the appointment of the new commander in chief from the navy, Admiral Widodo Adi Sujipto. They are trying to show that the new chief is incapable of controlling the situation in Maluku.
This group of generals, who have the most at stake in maintaining the armed forces "dual function", are trying to demonstrate that the army is still needed as the "peace-maker" in a civil society prone to conflict.
In addition, certain Muslim groups which feel they have not been given an appropriate share in the Wahid-Megawati government and that Wahid has given too many concessions to the Chinese and Christian minorities in Indonesia, are using the Maluku unrest to call for a holy war (jihad) to bring down the administration headed by the liberal cleric and the secular nationalist.
Behind all this, the one who stands to gain the most is Suharto, his family and his cronies. The political troubles hinder serious efforts to bring them to court to account for their political and economic crimes. They benefit from disturbances that serve to perpetuate the armed forces' "dual function".
https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/political-economy-violence-maluku
