Government should limit gifts to officials: Scholar<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A scholar suggested yesterday that the
\ngovernment renew its anticorruption campaign by regulating the
\nmaximum worth of \"gifts\" that a government official can accept
\nfrom businesspeople.<\/p>\n
Ryaas Rasyid, the rector of the state-run Institute of State
\nAdministration, said the only way possible to start a national
\ndrive against bribery was to limit the amount of money or the
\nvalue of a gift that an official could take from the business
\ncommunity.<\/p>\n
\"This is the easiest way of detecting bribery,\" Ryaas told
\nreporters after the graduation of the school's 549 students here
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
\"For instance, the decree could stipulate that a government
\nofficial could only take cash or a gift worth up to Rp 100,000
\n(US$27.6) from a businessman,\" he said. \"If the official received
\nmore than Rp 100,000, he or she would have to hand it over to the
\nstate.\"<\/p>\n
Some countries, including the United States, have rules
\nlimiting the value of gifts given their officials or heads of
\nstate. Neighboring country Singapore places even greater
\nrestrictions on its officials.<\/p>\n
Premjith Sadasivan, the first secretary to the Singaporean
\nEmbassy, told The Jakarta Post his government did not allow
\ngovernment officials to receive gifts from businessmen.<\/p>\n
\"Our law prohibits government officials from accepting
\nanything from businesspeople,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In the oath that Indonesian government officials take when
\nthey assume office, there is already a stipulation restricting
\nthem from receiving anything from anyone. In practice, however,
\nbribery has been considered as among the most rampant social ills
\nhere.<\/p>\n
Bribery<\/p>\n
Ryaas conceded that bribery was a chronic problem affecting
\nall layers of Indonesian society, and was hard to combat. Clear
\nstipulations of the amount of gifts an official may take could
\nserve as a control mechanism and help ensure public
\naccountability, he said.<\/p>\n
The issue on bribery practices was recently raised by former
\ndeputy governor of the state military think tank, the National
\nResilience Institute, Sayidiman Suryohadiprojo.<\/p>\n
Addressing a seminar on the discord between indigenous and
\nnonindigenous people here Tuesday, Sayidiman said nonindigenous
\nbusinessmen were well known for the practice of oiling their
\nbusinesses by paying bribes.<\/p>\n
\"Nonindigenous businessmen know precisely whether a government
\nofficial is clean from bribery or not. And they also know how
\nmuch money they have to spend to bribe officials for projects
\nthey are pursuing,\" Sayidiman said.<\/p>\n
The Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy
\nLtd. issued earlier this year a report on a survey which named
\nIndonesia as the most corrupt country in Asia. The same poor
\nrating was also given to Indonesia last year.<\/p>\n
The government has recently claimed that there had been a
\ndecline in the number of reported corruption cases over the past
\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 \"Rp 1 trillion and some billions\",
\n409 cases in 1995\/1996 causing a Rp 208 billion (US$63 million)
\nloss and 274 cases in 1996\/1997 resulting in a loss of Rp 377
\nbillion to the state.<\/p>\n
In the 1997\/1998 fiscal year, as of last September, the number
\nof reported corruption cases has reached 234, causing the state a
\nRp 77 billion loss.<\/p>\n
Ryaas called on prospective civil servants to mentally prepare
\nthemselves against bribery. \"A government official should realize
\nthat being a civil servant would not make him or her wealthy,\" he
\nsaid. (imn)<\/p>",
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