Illegal fees nurtured to keep state running<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A senior official at the Ministry of Finance once said that
\nillegal fees paid by the public for services at governmental
\noffices helped keep the underfunded bureaucracy running.<\/p>\n
Most of the country's five million public servants, especially
\nmiddle and high-ranking officials, were paid too little and thus
\ncould only make ends meet thanks to the illegal fees, the
\nofficial argued.<\/p>\n
Experts, meanwhile, say the six-month-old administration of
\nPresident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been facing active
\nresistance from all levels of the bureaucracy in its attempt to
\nprovide better public services and eliminate corrupt practices in
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
\"President Susilo is having problems in improving public
\nservices, as none of his directives to combat corruption have
\nbeen carried out seriously,\" said Transparency International (TI)
\nIndonesia secretary-general Emmy Havild.<\/p>\n
Emmy said no Cabinet ministers, police, the military or
\nregional administration leaders had shown any enthusiasm in
\nimplementing the President's anticorruption campaign.<\/p>\n
She suggested Susilo appoint a special secretary tasked with
\nmonitoring ministers and all state officials and their actions
\nagainst corruption, as the Kenyan government had done.<\/p>\n
\"The President's instructions about actions against corruption
\nare not clear. He said that he would directly lead the fight, but
\nI am not sure that he can do that given his many other tasks; he
\nneeds special assistance,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)
\nTaufiqurahman Ruki has also expressed his disappointment about
\nthe reluctance of ministers and state officials to implement the
\nPresident's anticorruption policy.<\/p>\n
Taufiqurahman has said only one ministry had thus far shown
\nany seriousness in combating corruption by forming a special
\ndivision to eradicate internal graft. Strangely, Taufiqurahman
\nhas refused to name the ministry.<\/p>\n
Sources say Susilo has long intended to replace National
\nPolice Chief General Da'i Bachtiar as part of his anti-corruption
\ndrive and his efforts to speed up reform in the police. However,
\ndue to resistance from officials at the State Secretary, the
\npresident had yet to realize his plan.<\/p>\n
The police are well-known to be riddled with corruption at all
\nlevels and some say graft has actually worsened in the force
\nsince Susilo's administration took power.<\/p>\n
Susilo needs only to go to the Jakarta traffic office on Jl.
\nDaan Mogot, West Jakarta to see how corrupt the police are.<\/p>\n
There, an applicant for a car driver's license needs to pay at
\nleast Rp 300,000 (US$31) to a broker to obtain the license,
\nhigher than the official rate of only Rp 110,000.<\/p>\n
These \"brokers\" are police officers or other people that have
\na close link with the police.<\/p>\n
Should an applicant refuse to use the broker's services and
\nprefer to process the license themselves, the police handling the
\napplication will try their utmost to force the applicant to
\nreturn to the brokers by looking for unnecessary errors in the
\napplication papers.<\/p>\n
It is reported that the office can reap in some Rp 500 million
\nin illegal fees from about 2,000 applicants a day.<\/p>\n
Aside from the massive illicit proceeds, the police also reap
\nhuge illegal revenues from traffic violations. At present, a
\ntraffic violator often has to pay at least Rp 100,000 to traffic
\npolice to avoid their license from being confiscated.<\/p>\n
According to a police sergeant stationed at the Ministry of
\nFinance, most of the illegal income from traffic violations is
\ngiven to high-ranking police officers, while the rest will be
\nused to support the limited budgets for daily police operations.<\/p>\n
\"President Susilo seems to be ignoring these illegal
\npractices, apparently because the amount involved is small. But
\nhe should know that the practices are directly affecting the
\npublic,\" said Jakarta Residence Forum chairman Azaz Tigor
\nNainggolan said.<\/p>\n
\"The public do not care that much about massive corruption
\nthat does not directly affect them. I think the President knows
\nthat the people, especially the poor, are being extorted nearly
\neveryday by public servants,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Azaz suggested Susilo issue a presidential regulation aimed
\nspecifically to root out corruption and extortion within the
\npublic service offices. The regulation should stipulate that
\npublic servants who received or asked for illegal fees from the
\npublic were investigated and fired, he said.<\/p>\n
The government is planning to raise the wages of all public
\nservants next year to help reduce corruption within the
\nbureaucracy.<\/p>\n
According to sources at the Ministry of Finance, the wages are
\nset to increase by an average of 10 percent.<\/p>\n
The government is also planning to set a time frame for
\ndocument processing at all public offices to ensure faster
\nservices.<\/p>",
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