Indonesia's Military-Owned Biz Issues To Be Settled: President

JAKARTA, Feb 6 Asia Pulse - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the problem of military-owned businesses is to be settled on time based on Law No. 34/2004, namely at the end of 2009.

"The Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) and the Defense Ministry are now ready to restructure those businesses based on the law," the president said after chairing a limited Defense Ministry meeting here on Monday.

Mr Yudhoyono said the government was now considering which categories of business were inappropriate for the military to engage in.

"There must be clarity about which categories of business are not appropriate and which are appropriate for the military to run. An appropriate category would be cooperatives supplying basic necessaries to military personnel," he said.

The head of state said that in the future, the TNI could only run businesses that did not hamper its main tasks.

Asked whether a presidential regulation was needed for settling the problem, the president said the important thing was the concept and direction of the settlement.

"Actually, the direction of a settlement is already clear enough," he said, adding that there was still enough time to settle the problem.

He said a team would begin working intensively again in the near future in order to meet the deadline mandated in the law on the settlement of TNI-owned businesses.