'Harsh punishment needed to eliminate corruption'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Only stringent punishment will eliminate rampant
\ncorruption in the country, said a cabinet minister yesterday.<\/p>\n
Minister of National Development Planning\/Chairman of National
\nDevelopment Planning Board Ginandjar Kartasasmita made this clear
\nas he addressed the eighth congress of the Indonesian National
\nYouth Committee (KNPI), a politically well-connected umbrella
\norganization of youth groups here.<\/p>\n
\"Harsh punishment is the only way to eradicate corruption
\nhere. There is no other way,\" Ginandjar said.<\/p>\n
He lamented that the existing legal system had failed to deter
\ncorruptors, and compared Indonesia with other countries which
\nhave seriously attempted to fight corruption.<\/p>\n
\"Many senior government officials in India, the United States
\nand Japan, for instance, were dismissed because of corruption,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Although calls to fight corruption are by no means novel,
\nGinandjar's statement is like a breath of fresh air, coming as it
\ndoes from a senior official. The late Mohammad Hatta, the
\ncountry's first vice president who died in March 1980, said
\ndecades ago that corruption had become a \"culture\" here.<\/p>\n
The doyen of economic sciences, Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, once
\ndescribed how corruption led to the loss of 30 percent of the
\ncountry's development fund.<\/p>\n
The German-based Der Spiegel magazine reported in its July
\n1995 edition that Indonesia ranked first in terms of corruption
\nout of 41 countries with rising economies.<\/p>\n
These statistics came from research conducted by Transparency
\nInternational, a research institute under the Goettingen
\nUniversity.<\/p>\n
The magazine ranked Indonesia last with a score of 1.94, below
\nthe People's Republic of China with 2.16. The cleanest country
\nwas New Zealand with 9.55.<\/p>\n
Tough<\/p>\n
Ginandjar admitted the battle against corruption was tough.<\/p>\n
\"We have the laws and the spirit to fight it, but still we
\nhave corruption here,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The Rp 1.3 trillion (US$620 million) loan scandal at the
\nstate-owned Bank Pembangunan Indonesia (Bapindo) would not have
\noccurred without the help of officials from the Bank Indonesia
\ncentral bank, he said.<\/p>\n
He said he believed that Indonesia would someday be able to
\nclean up corruption.<\/p>\n
\"It will take time for Indonesia to eradicate corruption,\" he
\nsaid. South Korea underwent a lengthy process before it was able
\nto fight corruption there, he said.<\/p>\n
Later in his address Minister\/State Secretary Moerdiono called
\nfor Indonesian youth to uphold the country's belief in unity in
\ndiversity. He urged them help uphold the motto Bhinneka Tunggal
\nIka (Unity in Diversity).<\/p>\n
\"We can avoid sociocultural conflicts by maintaining this
\nprinciple,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Such conflicts had proven to be difficult to settle in other
\ndeveloping countries, he said.<\/p>\n
Moerdiono also called on Indonesian youth to develop their
\nskills and knowledge so that they can keep up with the
\nincreasingly stiff global competition and trade liberalization.<\/p>\n
\"Competition for employment will not just be between our own
\npeople. Our competitors will come from foreign countries too,\" he
\ntold the participants.<\/p>\n
Indonesian youth should learn and master new skills with
\nmarketable value, if they find they are unable to compete with
\ntheir current skills. (imn)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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