GOVT ACHIEVEMENT ON CORRUPTION CRACK-DOWN STILL LOW

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Dec 25 (ANTARA) - The government's commitment to cracking down on corruption has been high but its implementation in the field is still weak so that achievements had been short of expectations.

        People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Chairman Hidayat Nur Wahid said he was not satisfied with the result of the corruption eradication efforts in the country although law enforcers appeared to be continuously dealing with one corruption case after the other.

        "Indonesia's corruption perception index continues to decline," he said after a get-together with cadres of the Prosperous Justice Party in Pontianak, West Kalimantan in October.

        President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has stressed on various occasions the government's commitment to combatting corruption and all its aspects, at central government level down to regional administration level.

        "The head of state put emphasis on continued efforts to root out corruption in the country," Chairman of the Indonesian International Transparency Council (ITC) Todung Mulya Lubis said after reporting the results of a survey of the Indonesian Corruption Perception Index in February.

        In the survey, interaction between corruption and bribery had been rife in many government agencies especially in vertical institutions.

        With around 1,760 business players from 32 provinces as respondents, the survey showed that there was a rise in the commitment of regional leaders to combat corruption, but its implementation bogged down in the field.

        Vertical institutions like the police, judicial institutions, taxation, the national land agency, immigration, customs and excise, lacked contribution to corruption eradication.

        Judicial institutions were reportedly the most involved in corrupt practices, and at a rate of 100 pct in receiving bribes, followed by customs and excise with a rate of 95 percent, immigration 90 percent, the national land agency 84 percent, the police 78 percent and the taxation authorities 76 percent.

        Although he was dissatisfied, MPR Chairman Hidayat Nur Wahid however admitted the government had high commitment to cracking down on corruption.

        The increasing number of suspected corruption cases being handled by law enforcers indicated that quantitatively the government's commitment to corruption eradication has improved.

        "Now tens of governors, mayors, legislators and even law enforcers themselves have been netted in alleged corruption cases," he said.

        But he was sorry to learn the decline in Indonesia's corruption perception index.

        Transparency International Indonesia (TII) recently reported Indonesia's corruption perception index in 2007 had dropped by 0.1 points from 2.4 in 2006.

        With a score of 2.3, Indonesia now ranked 143rd among 179 countries surveyed, putting it at the same level as Gambia, Russia and Togo. Timor Leste was placed higher than Indonesia, namely in the 123rd rank with a score of 2.6.

        TII chairman Todung Mulya Lubis said Indonesia's corruption perception index had dropped because the Indonesian public's memory had not yet changed and there was inconsistency and discrimination in corruption eradication efforts.

        Therefore, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono continued to urge law enforcers, government officials and institutions, including state-owned companies to help eradicate corruption practices.

        He called on all state-owned companies to rid themselves of their stigma as a hotbed of corruptive, collusive,-and nepotistic practices.

        "Shake off the stigma attached to state firms. The legal processes a number of directors of state firms had to undergo lately attested to the stigma," he said when addressing the opening of a state firms' coordination meeting at the Jakarta Convention Center in April.

        The stigma could be erased if state firms were committed to and serious about managing their businesses by applying the principles of good corporate governance and promoting a sound corporate culture, he said.

        Besides state companies, government ministries were also asked to help combat corruption. Ministries' unofficial accounts were viewed to be a source of non-budgetary funds which were often abused by state officials.

        The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) urged the law-enforcing agencies in the country to investigate the numerous accounts in which many government departments are believed to be keeping their so-called non-budgetary funds.

        "If necessary, just wipe out those accounts because the money they hold can be easily spent in inappropriate ways," Danang said.

        The State Audit Board (BPK) had actually provided the government with information on the existence of hundreds of non-budgetary fund accounts at government ministries or departments but until now the government had made no significant follow-up effort on the BPK's input.

        In spite of all these, the government through its anti-corruption agency, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), had tried its best to fight corruption.

        The KPK has succeeded in securing around Rp159 billion of state money from various corruption cases it had handled.

        KPK Deputy Chairman Tumpak H Panggabean, said last month that Rp60 billion of the total amount had already been transferred to the state, while the rest was still being processed.

        (T.A014/A/HNG/b005) 2. 00:55 (T.A014/A/A014/B005) 26-12-2007 00:52:09