JakartaGlobe-Nov 10
Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said the government has not yet finalized its plan to use seized corruption assets to repay debt related to the Jakarta–Bandung high-speed railway, locally known as Whoosh, despite President Prabowo Subianto’s recent declaration that the state will take over the liability. Speaking at Airlangga University in Surabaya on Monday, Purbaya said the framework is still being discussed internally.
“It’s still being discussed in detail. We only have the outlines at this stage,” Purbaya told reporters. He added that Indonesia may send another negotiating team to China to talk through repayment mechanics with its Chinese partners. Purbaya also hinted that he wants to be involved personally in the negotiations. “If I’m included, I can know directly how the discussion goes.” President Prabowo earlier said the government would assume responsibility for the project’s remaining debt and plans to finance around Rp 1.2 trillion in annual payments using funds recovered from corruption cases that have been returned to the state treasury. The president described Whoosh as a strategic symbol of Indonesia–China economic cooperation, especially in technology transfer. Prabowo said in Jakarta last week, “Money that used to be stolen, once recovered, will be used for the public interest.” The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Monday publicly detailed some of the alleged schemes in the project’s land acquisition process, including inflated land valuations and cases in which state-owned land was misrepresented as privately owned and then resold to the high-speed rail project at drastically higher prices. The Whoosh line, Southeast Asia’s first high-speed rail, is operated by a joint venture between Indonesian state-owned firms and China Railway Corp. Prabowo has publicly described the railway’s financing and governance as a national priority and a test of Indonesia’s credibility in major infrastructure partnerships. Read more at: https://jakartaglobe.id/business/indonesia-mulls-repaying-whoosh-debt-with-seized-corruption-funds
