Corruption worse over last five years: Survey<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A majority of Indonesians living in big cities
\nthink that corruption is getting worse, according to a survey by
\nthe Center for the Study of Development and Democracy.<\/p>\n
The survey, which was released yesterday, found that nearly 63
\npercent of people polled in Jakarta, Surabaya and Medan felt that
\ncorrupt practices had increased over the last five years.<\/p>\n
The respondents gave an even bigger thumbs down to the
\ngovernment's drive to eradicate corruption, with a staggering
\n94.1 percent saying that the efforts were \"unsatisfactory\".<\/p>\n
\"People are skeptical about what the government has done,\"
\nRustam Ibrahim, who led the research team, said.<\/p>\n
The center, a unit of the respected Institute for Research,
\nEducation, Economic, and Social Information, polled 995 people
\naged between 18 and 56 in Indonesia's three largest cities.<\/p>\n
\"This survey was conducted to find out what people at large
\nthink about corruption,\" chief researcher Rustam Ibrahim said
\nduring a news conference to release the poll results.<\/p>\n
A total of 600 respondents were taken from Jakarta, 250 from
\nSurabaya, and 145 from Medan.<\/p>\n
Of the respondents, 497 were men and 498 women.<\/p>\n
Their education ranged from elementary school (17 percent),
\njunior high school (16 percent) and senior high school (46.6
\npercent) to college (10.8 percent) and university (9.6 percent).<\/p>\n
When asked to identify the first thing that came to mind at
\nthe mention of corrupt practices, 49.9 percent said misuse of
\nstate money, 34.9 percent said misuse of power and only 6.2
\npercent stated bribery.<\/p>\n
\"Our survey is similar to the ones conducted abroad such as
\nthe one by Business Traveler magazine and PERC,\" Ibrahim said.<\/p>\n
The Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy
\nLtd (PERC) has rated Indonesia as the most corrupt country in the
\nworld in its latest survey released early this year.<\/p>\n
The majority of respondents (74.1 percent) said the Supreme
\nAudit Agency (BPK), the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP),
\nand inspectorate generals -- all state bodies in charge of
\nfighting corruption -- \"had yet to perform their duties well\".<\/p>\n
Of those surveyed, 87.6 percent suggested an independent
\nanticorruption body be set up to eradicate the practice.<\/p>\n
When asked to identify the main causes of corruption, 57.4
\npercent identified \"a rotten mentality\", 19 percent blamed \"lax
\nlaw enforcement\", 11.5 percent cited \"low salary\" (for civil
\nservants), and 10.1 percent said \"poor supervision\".<\/p>\n
The respondents felt that given a bad mentality, the oath of
\noffice that government workers take when assuming their job is
\nineffective in preventing them from engaging in corruption.<\/p>\n
The majority, or 74.4 percent, of the respondents also felt
\nthat all senior government officials must declare their wealth
\nand this information should be made available to the public at
\nlarge.<\/p>\n
President Soeharto in March asked members of his new cabinet
\nto declare their wealth to him but this information is only
\navailable by a court order in connection with investigations and
\nlawsuits on corruption that might arise.<\/p>\n
Most of the respondents said corruption could be eradicated if
\nthe government was more serious in enforcing the laws, and
\ngovernment leaders set good examples for their subordinates.<\/p>\n
Respondents differed on whether increasing the salary of civil
\nservants would help curb corruption but \"it is not seen as a
\npanacea\", Ibrahim said.<\/p>\n
Those polled were asked to define whether certain practices
\nwere corrupt or not. The scenarios included:<\/p>\n
* an individual official in a subdistrict office asking for
\nextra money to process residents' ID cards<\/p>\n
* a judge taking a bribe from a defendant for a lighter
\nsentence<\/p>\n
* a banker asking for commission for arranging a loan<\/p>\n
* a government official asking for commission for securing a
\nproject<\/p>\n
* an employee of an electricity or telephone company asking
\nfor extra money for his services.<\/p>\n
The case of a judge taking a bribe ranked the highest (65.4
\npercent), followed by the subdistrict officer (64.7 percent), the
\nbank officer (59.3 percent) and the government official (6.2
\npercent).<\/p>\n
None of the respondents felt that an employee of a telephone
\nor electricity company who asked for extra money for his services
\nwas corrupt.<\/p>\n
The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.
\n(aan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/corruption-worse-over-last-five-years-survey-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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