Former Indonesian minister Bustanil Arifin dies at age 85

LOS ANGELES: Former Indonesian cooperatives minister Lieutenant General (retired) Bustanil Arifin on Sunday passed away in Los Angeles at the age of 85, his family said.

Bustanil's relative Nilam Patricia confirmed the news to Tempo at the minister's house in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.

Bustanil, of Padang Panjang, West Sumatra, had been suffering from pneumonia since January, and in Los Angeles, he had been reportedly treated in Cedars-Sinai hospital.

At the age of 18, Bustanil joined a military training camp in Batusangkar, West Sumatra, later becoming a platoon commander under the Medan Special Regiment Batallion 3, North Sumatra.

He continued his military career until becoming a procurement and distribution deputy at Indonesia's National Logistics Agency (Bulog) in 1969. Bustanil was also the Indonesian Consul General in New York in 1972 before being named Bulog chief and PT PP Berdikari president director a year later.

Later, President Soeharto appointed Bustanil twice as the cooperatives minister from 1983 to 1988 and from 1988 to 1993 without leaving his post as Bulog director.

Bustanil had been living in Los Angeles during his last years, but his body will be transported to Indonesia later in the week.

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