Bureaucratic corruption<\/p>\n
In the drive to eradicate corruption, proponents of reform
\nseem to be focusing exclusively on our governing and business
\nelite. However, it should not be forgotten that bureaucratic
\ncorruption involving even the lowest ranking civil servants is
\nequally entrenched. Civil service corruption, disdain for the
\npublic and bullying from officialdom has been perfected to an art
\nform in our country.<\/p>\n
A small package containing 600 tablets of vitamins C, E and
\nIron, and some cheap weight gain milk formula was recently sent
\nto me from abroad. Mail from abroad typically arrives opened or
\notherwise tampered with, but my family and I were not prepared
\nfor this latest surprise. Although all postage, tax, duties,
\nmiscellaneous fees and regulations had been observed by the
\nsender -- and assurances given by the Indonesian postal service
\nand customs that the vitamins would arrive promptly -- the
\nvitamins were seized an impounded by the Director General of Food
\nand Medicine.<\/p>\n
They said the vitamins could not be delivered by the post
\noffice without two official documents, one from the director
\ngeneral of the post office and one from another bureaucracy. The
\nprice for this first document? Rp 125,000 per vitamin! A simple
\ncalculation shows that it would cost Rp 75,000,000 simply to
\nobtain a piece of paper that may or may not enable me to retrieve
\nthe vitamins.<\/p>\n
When I pointed out that this price could not possibly be met,
\nthe total value of the vitamins was about US$40, the officials
\nthen said that the actual price was $175 per vitamin, or $105,000
\nfor the whole box! This exceeds the price for which they were
\npurchased by more than 2,000 times, but the officials insisted
\nthey were treating me fairly.<\/p>\n
When I explained that the vitamins were for my elderly
\ngrandmother, who is clinically anemic, the officials laughed
\ncontemptuously and said they were only following \"regulations.\"<\/p>\n
When I asked to see the regulation(s) in writing, their tone
\nbecame abusive. They said the vitamins could be classified as
\ndrugs and that I could therefore be jailed for attempting to
\nimport them into Indonesia. Even as I invited them and any other
\nagencies of their choosing -- including the police, customs and
\nimmigration -- to open the package and inspect the vitamins, the
\nofficials said such a course of action would take many months to
\ncomplete and could only be undertaken after the money had been
\npaid in full.<\/p>\n
They steadfastly refused to show me the said \"regulation\" and
\nsaid that under no circumstances could the vitamins be returned
\nto the sender, even if I agreed to pay the postage. When I told
\nthe officials that I would reveal their behavior to the
\nnewspapers and hire a lawyer to help retrieve my personal
\nproperty, they simply laughed again and invited me to do so.<\/p>\n
Is there no consumer rights group which has the teeth to help
\nordinary citizens with such matters? As the government shuffles
\nfaces and makes grandiloquent noises about reform, Indonesians
\nhave realized that government transparency has at last been
\nachieved: The government and much of the bureaucracy is
\ntransparently and intractably corrupt.<\/p>\n
ELLA F. DUMBELLA<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bureaucratic-corruption-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }