Don't be pessimistic about ailing corruption: Minister<\/p>\n
BOGOR, West Java (JP): State Minister of National Development
\nPlanning, Ginandjar Kartasasmita, told the nation yesterday not
\nto be despondent about allegations of rampant corruption in the
\ngovernment as it was still a curative ailment.<\/p>\n
Addressing a national meeting of the Association of Indonesian
\nMoslem Intellectuals (ICMI) held at the Bogor Institute of
\nAgriculture, Ginandjar said he believes the \"illness\" can be
\ncured.<\/p>\n
\"What we really need now is an integrated system which can
\nprevent corrupt practices, detect corruption and take action
\nagainst it,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said the country has a suitable anticorruption law to deter
\ncorruption.<\/p>\n
\"But the law alone is not effective... The country also needs
\ntransparency in handling corruption,\" he said responding to a
\nparticipant's anxiety of acute corruption in the country.<\/p>\n
The Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy
\nLtd. issued earlier this year a report on its survey which named
\nIndonesia the most corrupt country in Asia. The same poor rating
\nwas also given to Indonesia last year.<\/p>\n
The government recently claimed that there had been a decline
\nin the number of reported corruption cases over the past few
\nyears, but conceded it could be due to the increasingly
\nsophisticated mode of the practice.<\/p>\n
There were 325 reported cases in the 1994\/1995 fiscal year
\ncausing a financial loss of almost Rp 2 trillion, 409 cases in
\n1995\/1996 causing a Rp 208 billion loss and 274 cases in
\n1996\/1997 resulting in a loss of Rp 377 billion to the state.<\/p>\n
In the 1997\/1998 fiscal year, as of last September, the number
\nof reported corruption cases reached 234, causing the state a Rp
\n77 billion loss.<\/p>\n
Ginandjar said corruption was not a monopoly of Indonesia and
\nother developing countries.<\/p>\n
\"Corruption is a negative aspect of human beings,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said big countries, including the United States and Japan,
\nhad experienced a similar critical period in their history.<\/p>\n
He said a former U.S. vice president was dismissed from his
\nposition and several Japanese prime ministers were also removed
\nfrom their posts because of corruption.<\/p>\n
\"Yet, both the U.S. and Japan have succeeded in reducing
\ncorruption because of an existing effective system to tackle and
\ndeal with corrupt practices,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Ginandjar said people should not be anxious given the state's
\ncurrent economic situation.<\/p>\n
\"It is natural for a country which is in transition to
\nexperience such an economic situation,\" he said. (imn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/dont-be-pessimistic-about-ailing-corruption-minister-1447893297",
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