Irregularities continue as govt fails to act: BPK<\/p>\n
Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Although the government has constantly vowed to eradicate graft
\nand corruption, the level of budget malfeasance remains high as
\naction is rarely taken by the relevant government institutions to
\nfollow up on reports of irregularities released by the Supreme
\nAudit Agency (BPK).<\/p>\n
\"There is no significant difference in the percentage of
\nbudget irregularities under the previous governments and the
\npresent one,\" BPK chairman Satrio B. Judono told reporters after
\na meeting with Vice President Hamzah Haz.<\/p>\n
\"It's clear that there's still not much being done to follow
\nup on our reports (of misuse of funds) ... we still find the same
\nirregularities occurring repeatedly,\" he said, adding that his
\nagency found most of the irregularities occurred in logistics
\nsections of virtually all departments.<\/p>\n
In its latest report, the BPK unveiled 1,076 cases of
\nirregularities in the budget resulting in Rp 2.8 trillion (around
\nUS$280 million) in losses to the state.<\/p>\n
The report, which was submitted to the House of
\nRepresentatives (DPR) in March, revealed irregularities worth
\nover Rp 1 trillion in the country's state-owned enterprises in
\n2001.<\/p>\n
Regional administration budgets (APBD) came in second with 302
\ncases resulting in state losses worth Rp 177 billion.<\/p>\n
Most of the irregularities, totaling 450 cases, were
\ncategorized as \"deviations from the law\" followed by \"deviations
\nfrom objectives\", which totaled 321 cases<\/p>\n
The BPK's duty is to provide reports following audits of
\ngovernment institutions. It is then up to the respective
\ndepartment to examine and correct the irregularities.<\/p>\n
\"Follow-up are the responsibility of those who are being
\naudited, which is the government. Therefore it is up to the
\ngovernment to make changes,\" Satrio said.<\/p>\n
Prior to the submission of the BPK's report to the House, the
\nState Development Finance Controller (BPKP) reported incidents of
\nmisappropriation involving Rp 2.5 trillion of state funds in
\n2001.<\/p>\n
Satrio said on Wednesday that BPKP and his agency's duties
\noften overlapped. Nevertheless, the BPK was currently short of
\nthe human resources and funds it needed to work effectively.<\/p>\n
Regarding the disputed Rp 30 billion taken from the
\nPresidential Assistance Fund (Banpres) that was donated by
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri for the renovation of military
\nand police accommodation, Satrio said that monies from the fund
\nshould not be used before it was included in the state budget
\n(APBN).<\/p>\n
\"The assistance fund should be included in the APBN before it
\nis spent,\" he said at the State Palace after meeting President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri.<\/p>\n
According to Satrio, during the presidency of Abdurrahman
\nWahid, his agency recorded Rp 540 billion in presidential
\nassistance funds held by the State Secretariat.<\/p>\n
At that time, the Minister of Finance instructed all non-
\nbudgetary funds to be included in the APBN.<\/p>\n
\"The last time we audited the State Secretariat was in June
\n2000. In the near future, we will examine this institution and
\nthen we will see whether the fund has been included in the state
\nbudget or not,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/irregularities-continue-as-govt-fails-to-act-bpk-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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