Can corruption be wiped out here?<\/p>\n
By Donna K. Woodward<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): More and more Indonesians are speaking out
\nagainst the corruption -- payoffs, bribery, kickbacks, collusion
\n-- that is strangling this economy. And yet the payoffs and
\nkickbacks continue. Why does corruption continue?<\/p>\n
On April 30, Rob Goodfellow wrote about the danger of
\nstereotyping (by Westerners) Indonesian business practices as
\ncorrupt. The very next day, though, Indonesia's Center for the
\nStudy of Development and Democracy released the result of its
\nsurvey indicating that \"a majority of Indonesians living in big
\ncities think that corruption is getting worse\".<\/p>\n
Many expatriates and Indonesians who willingly pay illegal
\nfees to government officials explain this in terms of the low
\nsalaries of Indonesia's civil servants and police. In fact, some
\nof those demanding payoffs are often receiving huge amounts, not
\nto sustain basic needs, but to support a lavish lifestyle that
\nmany of other people would envy.<\/p>\n
But those who offer this rationale for their collusion in
\ncorruption have a valid point -- corruption will not be
\ncontrolled until the government finds a way to do something about
\nthe salaries of its civil servants.<\/p>\n
A police officer who must borrow millions of rupiah to \"buy\" a
\njob which has an official salary of Rp 250,000 (US$31) per month,
\nor a civil servant who is trying to support a family on an
\nofficial salary of Rp 400,000 per month, both must find
\nextracurricular sources of income.<\/p>\n
Institutionalized corruption may have this positive effect, in
\nthat wealth is redistributed from those who have more to those
\nwho have less. But is corruption an acceptable alternative to the
\ncountry's inadequate wage system? People tolerate corruption,
\nthinking that it is only about periodic payoffs made to those
\nwhose salaries need augmenting by those who can afford to pay.<\/p>\n
But corruption is about more than dirty money. Corruption,
\nsecondarily about greed, is primarily about abuse of official
\npower (as those who were polled in the survey recognized).<\/p>\n
Tolerance of the system wherein a citizen cannot obtain a
\npassport or a driver's license without paying illegal fees
\nexacted by those in power eventually leads to tolerance of more
\nsophisticated, then more chilling, abuses of power. Though not on
\na par with physical torture, abuse of authority is a seamless
\ncloth -- whether to use a position to extort a little money
\ntoday, or to detain someone improperly tomorrow, or to use
\nexcessive force against a criminal suspect the following day.
\nCorruption is, at its roots, about abuse of power.<\/p>\n
Corruption is a social disease of the spirit. It takes away
\nthe self-respect and dignity of those who wait like beggars for a
\npayment. It breeds resentment in those who look for payoffs,
\ntoward those (generally expatriates and Chinese) who have the
\nmoney to pay. It generates contempt in those who pay toward those
\nsoliciting payments (usually indigenous government officials),
\nwho seem to have little remaining initiative to get ahead
\nlegitimately.<\/p>\n
It thus exacerbates inter-ethnic conflicts. It undermines
\nconfidence in the legal system and in the government. Corruption
\nmakes the nation of Indonesia look to all the world, from
\nSingapore to New York, like a large bazaar where every official
\ntransaction can be bargained, where every hand is out for a
\npayoff.<\/p>\n
What makes corruption especially odious is not so much the
\nmoney involved (though the amounts demanded can be considerable).
\nIt is, in the final instance, that corruption erodes the self-
\nrespect of Indonesia's honest citizens and civil servants.<\/p>\n
Can Indonesia really afford to tolerate corruption as an
\nalternative wealth-redistribution system when the side effects
\nare so devastating to its ethnic harmony and national morale?
\nDoes anyone dare say \"Yes\"?<\/p>\n
Indonesia's leaders themselves say \"No\". There is hardly a day
\nthat another high-level government leader does not proclaim that
\nthere must be greater transparency and honesty in Indonesia's
\nbureaucracy, that illegal fees must be eliminated, that the
\ngovernment must be clean.<\/p>\n
But is this rhetoric or resolve? Does the government really
\nintend to eliminate corruption? Or is there a fear at the higher
\nlevels of government that to take serious steps against offending
\nofficials could lead to loss of support from officials who
\nbenefit from illegal fees; to mutiny in the military; and to
\ncivil unrest among the lower ranks of civil servants and police?
\nWhat would happen if the official who earns only a few hundred
\nthousand rupiah per month in official wages could not supplement
\nthis by seeking biaya administrasi (\"administration cost\") or
\ngrease money?<\/p>\n
What would happen if those, who over the years had made
\ncontributions (directly or indirectly) to their superiors as a
\nmeans of securing promotions, suddenly could not use the position
\nthey have reached to benefit themselves and their families as
\nexpected?<\/p>\n
What would happen if even a single minister or one governor
\ngot serious about ending corruption in his or her jurisdiction?
\nWould the official who seriously undertook effective measures to
\nstop corruption soon be sabotaged by subordinates or divested of
\nauthority by superiors or worse? How can any official survive,
\nwho interferes with people's opportunities for supplementing
\ntheir incomes?<\/p>\n
Many government officials may want to end corruption but do
\nnot know how or where to start. Perhaps there is some guilt they
\nthemselves benefited from the system of patronage on their way up
\nthe career ladder and now they hesitate to close the doors of
\nopportunity which others wait to enter.<\/p>\n
Perhaps they are reluctant to interfere with opportunities for
\nincome enhancement by hardworking subordinates, who would be
\ndenied the opportunity for a better life if corruption were
\nended.<\/p>\n
Perhaps they worry about revolt from the masses of government
\nworkers who could not afford to maintain even a modest lifestyle,
\nwithout extra income from illegal sources.<\/p>\n
Many government officials may want to perform bureaucratic
\nsurgery on this \"cancer\" of corruption that is devastating the
\nnation's spirit, the nation's reputation and the nation's
\neconomy. But given the possible ramifications, can Indonesia
\nafford to stop corruption? Would we feel compelled to answer \"No,
\nnot yet\"?<\/p>\n
A campaign against corruption is not difficult to begin. In
\nevery local government office that provides official services or
\nissues documents, permits or licenses, a notice stating the
\nofficial fee for each service or document should be displayed.
\nThe notice could list not only the fee, but the required
\nprocedures for obtaining the desired item, any documents required
\nand other relevant information. No notice, no fee, no exception.
\nThis practice should apply to every official transaction, from
\nthe issuances of identity cards (KTPs) in the smallest village to
\napprovals for building the country's longest bridge. This would
\nnot be a complex or costly reform to institute and it could start
\nimmediately. The President could easily decree that each governor
\narrange for fees-and-procedures notices to be posted by the end
\nof this month. This would be a small sign to restive students of
\nthe government's commitment to transparency and reform. In fact,
\nas an academic project and a channel for their political
\nenergies, students in relevant departments could be assigned to
\ncollect and verify information and report on fees and procedures
\nfor official transactions in their districts.<\/p>\n
Providing clear information to the public would be a first
\nstep toward eliminating illegal levies and curbing corruption.
\nMore would be needed -- local tribunals of trustworthy
\narbitrators to handle allegations of violations and redress
\nwrongs, a system of numbered official receipts to replace the
\ncharmingly personal receipt books that are now popular with some
\nofficials. But give people a concrete instance of reform-forced
\ntransparency on a local level and the people will soon find ways
\nto carry reform forward.<\/p>\n
Every nation, including the Vatican, has had to deal with the
\nproblem of corruption. Other countries have declared war on the
\nproblem and found ways to reduce corruption substantially, though
\nnot eliminate it perfectly. Do Indonesia's current leaders have
\nthe energy and political courage to bring the country's public
\nethics and civil service into the 21st century? Who will sound
\nthe call to action?<\/p>\n
The writer, a former American diplomat, is director of PT Far
\nHorizons.<\/p>",
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