Jakarta, Oct 24 (Antara) - Illegal levies have been a chronic problem afflicting various public services in many government agencies, including in the Ministry of Transportation.
It is not only the state that suffers losses as a result of such illegal gratification, but also businesses and people as a whole.
At the ports, such losses could be to the tune of Rp3 trillion per annum, according to an estimate arrived at by the Electronic Business Association (Gabel). Arnaldi Nasrum posted this information in the Kompasiana column in June last year.
The industry could be annually suffering a Rp12 trillion loss as a result of losing market share. This is based on the fact that the value of the electronic market has been calculated as Rp27.7 trillion.
Now, the government is going all out to curb such illegal levies in various institutions. Police arrested officials after they were caught red handed while collecting illegal levies at the Ministry of Transportation premises earlier this month.
"We discussed the operation mounted against illegal levies (OPP). We received a report from the National Police chief that some officials of the Ministry of Transportation were arrested on charges of illegal levies on shipment documents," President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) confirmed after inspecting the search operation at the Ministry of Transportation's premises on October 11.
As part of the efforts to fight against illegal levies, President Jokowi also issued a presidential regulation to establish an illegal levies eradication task force.
"With the signing of this regulation, the president sent a strong signal that the task force would operate within the institutions and will not be an outside agency," Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said at a press conference at the presidential office last Friday.
Besides, the government will make available three avenues for the public to report cases of illegal levies, namely through the Internet, SMS and telephone. The public can report such cases through the website sebarpungli.id, or send SMS text to 1193 or call 193.
Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto observed that his side needed a week to prepare all hardware facilities before these measures could be fully put in place and start receiving reports from the public.
"People are urged to actively report cases to the illegal levies eradication task force," the minister underlined. President Jokowi has issued Presidential Regulation No. 87 Year of 2016 on Illegal Levies Eradication Task Force, called Saber Pungli Task Force.
The Saber Pungli Team will be led by the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs and include, the National Police, the Attorney General and the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform. The team will work to set things in order at both, the central and the local government level.
The Ministry of Transportation, which governs the public transport sector, also followed the presidential regulation and has established an Illegal Levies Eradication Task Force.
This ad hoc team led by the Secretary General of the Ministry, will work with representatives from the Ministry of Transportation, Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) and the Indonesian Consumers Institute Foundation (YLKI). The team is expected to be more independent and clean. Wiranto pointed out that the presidential regulation has been issued to restore public confidence and to ensure that the community has a sense of legal certainty and justice.
Three areas need to be worked upon now, namely putting in place regulations, getting the law enforcement personnel and institutions in order and developing a culture of respect for law.
"We will also ensure that the law enforcement agencies work in a professional manner. The personnel working in these law enforcement agencies must certainly have an approach that is totally professional," he added.
Wiranto underlined that the task force, locally known as "Saber Pungli," will mainly target illegal levies that directly affect the community and cause a sense of fear and uneasiness among the public with regard to investments.
The regulation was made into law by the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Yasonna Laoly
Director General of Sea Transportation A Tonny Budiono instructed all his officials must work together to eradicate illegal fees without exception and to restore public trust, justice and a sense of legal certainty.
"I hope that the rank and file working in the sea transportation sector remain committed to providing best services to all those who use the sea transportation services, with full responsibility, honesty and transparency, and are guided by principles of good governance," he reiterated.
Extortion has become a crucial issue at a time when the government is making efforts to achieve good governance. President Joko Widodo brought the issue into spotlight recently.
Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi asked his officials to end the enrich-oneself mindset.
"Let's ensure that the public service component of the Ministry of Transportation is completely free of any irregularities, malpractices or illegal levies," Budi stressed at the Ministry of Transportation offices here on Monday. ***2***(A014/INE)
EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 24-10-2016 22:11:3 |
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