Corrupt customs officers must be punished: Legislators<\/p>\n
Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Following a damning report claiming widespread under-invoicing
\nof import prices, top legislators urged the government to impose
\nsanctions on any official of the customs and excise service found
\nto be involved.<\/p>\n
Faisal Baasir, deputy chairman of the House of
\nRepresentatives' Commission IX for financial and development
\nplanning, said anyone found guilty of abusing his or her position
\nat the expense of the state should be punished.<\/p>\n
"Stern action from their superiors is needed to rid the
\ncustoms and excise service of corruption," Faisal told The
\nJakarta Post over the weekend.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Importers Association (Ginsi) last week
\nreported said that the government was losing approximately Rp 40
\ntrillion (some US$3.8 billion) per year in import duties, value
\nadded tax and income tax from non-oil imports due to under-
\ninvoicing.<\/p>\n
The report also indicated that collusion between importers and
\ncustoms officials was taking place in light of the huge scale on
\nwhich under-invoicing was being carried out.<\/p>\n
Faisal admitted that the state had been receiving less revenue
\nfrom customs and excise than it should have been.<\/p>\n
"With the potential that customs and excise has, it should be
\ncontributing more to the state's coffers," he claimed.<\/p>\n
According to the latest data, the state received Rp 2.3
\ntrillion in 1998, Rp 4.1 trillion in 1999 and Rp 3.4 trillion in
\n2000 from import duties, value added tax and income tax from non-
\noil imports.<\/p>\n
However, according to Ginsi, which used data and figures from
\nthe Central Bureau of Statistics and the state budget in its
\nreport, the country should have collected the staggering figures
\nof Rp 52.7 trillion in 1998, Rp 43.3 trillion in 1999 and Rp 57
\ntrillion in 2000.<\/p>\n
A World Bank-sponsored assessment earlier this year also
\nrevealed that the customs and excise service was one of the
\ncountry's most corrupt public institutions, along with the
\ntraffic police and judiciary.<\/p>\n
Faisal blamed the mentality of customs officers for the
\nrampant illegal practices, saying: "Mentality is something we
\ncannot change. Once they get involved in such practices, its hard
\nfor them to stop."<\/p>\n
That's why, he continued, stern administrative sanctions
\nshould be imposed as a form of shock therapy for the culprits.<\/p>\n
Another lawmaker, Aberson Sihaloho, however, stressed the need
\nto create an enduring supervisory system to help curb corruption.<\/p>\n
"Given the complexity of the problem, we need to thoroughly
\nanalyze how to establish a sustainable supervisory system to stop
\nthe state being defrauded anymore," he told the Post, without
\nelaborating.<\/p>\n
Aberson also acknowledged that curbing corruption was much
\neasier said than done because it took more than the custom
\nofficers to clean up their act. The importers would have to do so
\nas well.<\/p>\n
"In corruption, it takes two to tango. And from a
\nbusinessman's point of view, the less you pay the better.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/corrupt-customs-officers-must-be-punished-legislators-1447893297",
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