Army told to improve accountability, skill<\/p>\n
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Army, which is the most dominant service within the ranks of
\nthe Indonesian Military (TNI), has been praised for keeping its
\ndistance from politics and better respecting human rights.<\/p>\n
However, those virtues alone are not enough to improve the
\nArmy's tainted image, according to a military analyst. \"In order
\nto win the people's hearts, the corps has to improve its
\nfinancial transparency and technical professionalism,\" Kusnanto
\nAnggoro, a military analyst with the Center for Strategic and
\nInternational Studies (CSIS), told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Kusnanto was interviewed to mark the Army's anniversary, which
\nfell on Dec. 15 but will be celebrated on Monday.<\/p>\n
The lack of financial transparency, according to Kusnanto, is
\nevident in the Army's budgetary procedures. The publicly released
\nbudget figures often do not reflect actual military expenditure,
\nsince extrabudgetary funds contribute significantly to military
\nexpenditure, he said.<\/p>\n
Data obtained by the Post reveals that extrabudgetary funds
\nwere used, for example, to purchase a squadron of A-4 combat
\naircraft and four landing ship tanks (LSTs) in the late 1970s.<\/p>\n
Some of the extrabudgetary funds are obtained from legitimate
\nbusinesses, including hotels and airlines, run by seven
\nfoundations belonging to the Army. The businesses -- some 50
\nmilitary-owned in all -- generate revenue and provide extra funds
\nfor the military to finance its operations and altogether improve
\nthe welfare of personnel, notably generals.<\/p>\n
\"But the problem is that there is no transparency in the use
\nof the funds,\" said Kusnanto, who feared that the lack of
\ntransparency in the fund use could lead to corruption.<\/p>\n
Besides the lack of financial transparency, low technical
\ncompetence is another problem the Army has to deal with.
\nTechnical competence refers to the modern war machines the Army
\npossesses as well as the ability of soldiers to win a war,
\nKusnanto said without going into detail.<\/p>\n
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu has expressed
\nconcern that the fatalities among his soldiers in the military
\noperation in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam were largely due to the low
\ncombat ability of his personnel.<\/p>\n
In order to develop the combat ability of its personnel, the
\nArmy recently formed and trained 10 battalions of Raider combat
\ntroops, comprising 8,000 soldiers, who will be inducted on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
Separately, former Army deputy chief Lt. Gen. (ret) Kiki
\nSyahnakri acknowledged that the Army had not been financially
\ntransparent in the past, especially in regards to the running of
\nits foundations, but he said that it had been rectified.<\/p>\n
In order to minimize the possibility of the misuse of power
\nand corruption, for example, the Army has prohibited the Army
\nchief of staff from heading the foundations, with the position of
\nleading the foundations being given to retired servicemen
\ninstead.<\/p>\n
He said it would be very difficult to close the foundations'
\nbusinesses, unless the government provided enough money for the
\nArmy to improve the welfare of its soldiers and cover its
\nexpenses for military operations.<\/p>\n
He said the Army was in a transitional period.<\/p>\n
\"At least the Army has promised in a white paper publicly
\nreleased recently that one day it will refrain from business
\nactivities,\" he told the Post.
\nReform -- Page 6<\/p>",
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