Golkar affiliate to buy 40 Kiat Esemka cars

Jakarta: Kosgoro 1957, a mass organization affiliated with the Golkar Party, says it will buy 40 Kiat Esemka SUVs made by students in Surakarta, Central Java.

“We plan to buy the cars since they are cheap and good. I’ve done a test drive of the car myself,” Golkar official Agung Laksono said on Monday as quoted by kompas.com. The cars would be used by Kosgoro 1957’s provincial branches.

Kosgoro 1957 deputy secretary-general Leo Nababan said: “We are about to sign a contract.”

Production of the Kiat Esemkas, assembled by students of a local vocational senior high school, has attracted the attention of officials, including Surakarta Mayor Joko Widodo and his deputy, Hadi Rudyatmo, who have been using Kiats as their official vehicles.

Education and Culture Minister M. Nuh will also reportedly buy a Kiat and give it to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.(drs)