“The KPK and SFO have had several communications discussing the case. We will continue the cooperation as the SFO has a lot of data,” KPK deputy chairman Haryono Umar said Sunday.

In a recent session at the Southwark Crown Court in London, a UK-based manufacturer and distributor of fuel additives, Innospec Limited, pleaded guilty to bribing officials in order to secure supply contracts for a lead-based fuel additive used to boost the octane value of gasoline.

The product is called Tetraethyl Lead (TEL), and Innospec is believed to be the last manufacturer of TEL as the product has been phased out in the United States and Europe (and globally) due to health and environmental concerns.

In 1982, Innospec appointed PT Soegih Interjaya (PTSI) as its agent to sell TEL to Pertamina. During the period covered by the indictment, from Feb. 14 2002 to Dec. 31, 2006, the sales of TEL to Indonesia totaled US$170.18 million. PTSI received $11.79 million in commissions and, according to the SFO, an unknown portion of this was used for bribes.

Haryono said that KPK had been studying the case before the court in London reached its verdict.

“We have studied the case since sometime ago, but the recent court case in London is very useful for us in helping to decide whether we can begin an investigation [in Indonesia] or not. We now expect to [start to] investigate the case as soon as possible, hopefully this month,” he said.

SFO communications director David Jones said the organization was willing to share information with Indonesia.

“What has been revealed in the court is public information. If Indonesian authorities want to access other information that cannot be revealed publicly, this can be done through government-to-government cooperation under an agreement called Mutual Legal Assistance,” Jones said as quoted by the BBC website.

Both the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and Pertamina have not yet responded to the issue.

“As of today, I don’t know anything about the case,” the ministry’s head of its legal and public relations bureau Sutisna Prawira said.

Pertamina’s spokesman Basuki Trikora Putra also refused to comment on the court verdict. He only said that Pertamina had stopped using TEL in its Premium gasoline at the end of 2006.

Transparency International Indonesia’s spokesman Ilham Saenong said the (UK) court verdict could be used to help file legal action against Pertamina. “Pertamina can be sued as this [the lead import] was damaging to public health,” he said.

The UK court concluded that bribery undoubtedly prolonged the use of the leaded fuel in Indonesia.
Indonesia proposed phasing out the use of TEL and leaded fuel in 1999, but the process was not completed until 2006.

Both the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and Pertamina have not yet responded to the issue.

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