City shrugs off corruption survey<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto and Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Jakarta Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo dismissed on Thursday a survey
\ncarried out by Transparency International Indonesia (TII), in
\nwhich Jakarta topped the list of most corrupt cities, and called
\nit unreasonable.<\/p>\n
"It is not reasonable to compare Jakarta with other smaller
\ncities in the country," Fauzi was quoted as saying by city
\nspokesman Catur Laswanto.<\/p>\n
Fauzi argued that because 80 percent of money that circulates
\nin the country goes through Jakarta, it would be unfair to
\ncompare the capital with other cities with a far smaller percent
\nof business transactions.<\/p>\n
He claimed that if the survey had used the same yardstick to
\nmeasure Jakarta against other small cities, the city would
\ncertainly be the least corrupt.<\/p>\n
"The TII survey needs to consider other aspects, such as
\ninvestment values in respective cities, budget allocation and the
\nnumber of companies operating in those cities," he said.<\/p>\n
TII on Wednesday revealed the results of a corruption survey
\nin 21 provinces, municipalities and regencies, which showed that
\nJakarta was the most corrupt city in the country, followed by
\nSurabaya, Medan, Semarang and Batam regency.<\/p>\n
It also placed the small town of Bondowoso in East Java as the
\ncleanest region, followed by Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan,
\nMakassar in South Sulawesi, and Cilegon in Banten province.<\/p>\n
Councillors, however, welcomed the survey and urged both the
\nlocal administration and the City Council to view the survey's
\nresults as valuable information for self-correction.<\/p>\n
Secretary to the Prosperous and Justice Party (PKS) faction in
\nthe City Council Selamat Nurdin said that his faction appreciated
\nany group that contributed to fighting corruption.<\/p>\n
"With the information, we need to work harder in fighting
\nagainst corruption. Relevant agencies like the City Audit Body
\n(Bawasda) needs to follow up on such information," Nurdin told
\nThe Jakarta Post on Thursday.<\/p>\n
He also pointed out that the survey was valuable because
\nallegations of unrelenting corruption had always been dismissed
\nby officials as mere rumors among the public.<\/p>\n
Therefore, Nurdin added, the survey should become a strong
\nindication that rampant corruption was continuing unabated in the
\ncity -- both within the administration and within the Council.<\/p>\n
"I hope the survey will encourage legal enforcers to find and
\nprosecute corrupt people," he stated.<\/p>\n
Similarly, the Council's deputy speaker Maringan Pangaribuan
\nsaid that he was not surprised by the survey, because it was only
\na confirmation of unconfirmed reports on corruption.<\/p>\n
He believed that rampant corruption still occurred in nearly
\nall agencies under the city administration, particularly due to
\nthe failure of bureaucratic reforms.<\/p>\n
"The bureaucracy has not been touched by the reform process.
\nTherefore, many corruption cases will not be discovered. The
\nCouncil will encourage the administration to carry out serious
\nbureaucratic reform," he added.<\/p>\n
Maringan admitted that corruption also involved many
\ncouncillors, but stressed that the frequency was not comparable
\nto the corruption within the administration.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/city-shrugs-off-corruption-survey-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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