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Vendors of bankrupt SOE Istaka Karya demand Rp 786b in unpaid dues
An association named the "victims of SOE Istaya Karya" has urged lawmakers to fulfill the bankrupt construction firm's financial obligations to vendors, some of which have been waiting more than a decade to be paid.
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State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir listens on Jan. 29. 2020, during a meeting on state-owned insurer Jiwasraya’s failed JS Saving Plan with House of Representatives Commission VI at the Senayan legislative complex in Jakarta. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
P
erkobik, an association representing vendors of PT Istaka Karya, has called on House of Representatives Commission VI to push the government to settle the outstanding obligations of the bankrupt state-owned construction firm.
Istaka Karya was declared bankrupt in 2022 and officially dissolved the following year by the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Ministry, but it still owes Rp 786 billion (US$48.26 million) to 179 vendors, some of which have been waiting to be paid for projects completed over a decade ago.
Perkobik chairman Bambang Susilo said the meeting with the House commission on Monday was its second since June 2023, held during Istaka Karya’s liquidation process, but neither the government nor the liquidation curator had fulfilled the bankrupt firm’s financial obligations.
Bambang shared a personal hardship with the commission, recounting how the Attorney General’s Office had sent him a letter threatening to seize his assets for defaulting on a loan from a state-owned bank. The loan was to fund a national infrastructure project, but he was unable to meet its conditions because of Istaka Karya’s failure to pay him.
“It’s ironic,” he lamented during Monday’s meeting. “I had to borrow from a [state-owned] bank to finance a government infrastructure project. Now, because the construction SOE hasn’t paid me, the bank is threatening to confiscate my house.”
Perkobik is urging the SOEs Ministry to show greater flexibility in supporting affected vendors, many of which are small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
It has also appealed to lawmakers to either propose a solution or pressure the ministry to release the overdue payments.
