BPK slams govt over corruption<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) blasted again on Thursday the
\ngovernment's lackluster efforts in combating corruption, saying
\nmost of the suspected corruption cases discovered by the agency
\nhave been ignored.<\/p>\n
BPK's chairman Satrio B. Judono said the agency had reported a
\ntotal of 6,162 suspected corruption cases since 2001 to the
\nAttorney General's Office and the National Police.<\/p>\n
However, only 505 cases or just over 8 percent of the total
\nhad been investigated by both law enforcement agencies, Satrio
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"As I have repeatedly said, they (the government) lack quite a
\nlot of accountability,\" said Judono on the sidelines of a plenary
\nsession with the House of Representatives on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
In terms of value, the 6,162 corruption cases had the
\npotential of causing state losses of Rp 2.05 trillion (US$242
\nmillion), while by handling the 505 cases, the government is
\nlikely to regain Rp 24.4 billion or a little more than 1 percent
\nof the potential losses, according Satrio.<\/p>\n
The small number of cases actually acted upon by the
\ngovernment serve as more evidence that the country's half-hearted
\nefforts to stamp out graft and corruption have again proven
\nfruitless.<\/p>\n
Since the start of the reform era in 1998 -- which was marked
\nby the downfall of the corrupt regime of former president
\nSoeharto -- successive administrations, including the current
\nadministration of President Megawati Soekarnoputri, pledged to
\neradicate corruption in the country.<\/p>\n
However, most analysts agree that corruption remains as
\nrampant as it was during former President Soeharto's
\nadministration.<\/p>\n
During the plenary session, BPK revealed that in the first
\nhalf of this year it managed to discover 87 cases of corruption
\nworth Rp 1.94 billion in the use of 2003 state budget; 369 cases
\nworth Rp 6.25 billion in the use of budgets by regional
\ngovernments and regionally owned enterprises; and 117 cases worth
\nRp 7.79 billion in state-owned enterprises.<\/p>\n
The size of all of the budgets audited by the agency during
\nthe period totaled Rp 5.09 trillion.<\/p>\n
The agency also reported that it had discovered 174 cases of
\nirregularities between January and June this year, which
\npotentially caused a total of Rp 233 billion (US$27.7 million) in
\nlosses to the state.<\/p>\n
Most of the irregularities were in the category of \"deviations
\nfrom law\", totaling 121 cases worth Rp 131.5 billion, followed by
\n\"cases of failure to comply with austerity and efficiency\", which
\ntotaled 30 cases worth Rp 57.5 trillion.<\/p>\n
In third place was \"deviations from a set of objects\" which
\ntotaled 23 cases worth Rp 44.1 billion.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, the agency also called the 2002 Bank Indonesia
\nbalance sheet \"satisfactory, but with some exceptions\" because of
\nthe alleged misuse of Rp 20.9 trillion in state funds stashed in
\ngovernment account number 502.<\/p>\n
The 502 funds were originally allocated to cover the financial
\nobligations of closed banks as part of the government's blanket
\nguarantee program.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bpk-slams-govt-over-corruption-1447893297",
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