Leaking of World Bank aid<\/p>\n
Ginandjar Kartasasmita, the minister of national development
\nplanning and chairman of the national development planning board,
\nhas stressed that he finds it difficult to believe the opinion of
\nDr. Jeffrey A. Winters. Winters has said the leakage in aid
\nextended to Indonesia in the last three decades by the World Bank
\nhas amounted to 30 percent of the total.<\/p>\n
What Winters has said does not stand to reason because, if it
\nwere true, projects funded by the World Bank would now be
\nparalyzed.<\/p>\n
I know for sure that there is a leakage in loans from the
\nWorld Bank or other international financial institutions in
\nIndonesia. It is difficult, however, to figure out just how big
\nthe leakage is. The figure may be between 10 percent and 30
\npercent of the value of the projects.<\/p>\n
Once I took part in the tender and implementation of a project
\nfor the supply of laboratory equipment. The funding for the
\nproject was a loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which
\nwas extended to one directorate general at one ministry. This
\nequipment was to be sent to a number of regions in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
There is a trick to getting projects:<\/p>\n
a. there were nine supplying contractors who decided among
\nthemselves who would be the winner of the tender. The eight other
\ncontractors took part only for formality's sake and each got paid
\n2 percent of the value of the project.<\/p>\n
b. the winning contractor supplied goods which were a very low
\nquality, for example Taiwan-made microscopes. Their price might
\nhave been only 50 percent of the standard price for the items
\nwhich should have been supplied. These goods might be broken
\nafter only a year's use.<\/p>\n
c. the winning contractor distributed money to the project
\nofficer, the project supervisor, the heads of the laboratories to
\nwhich the goods were sent and the paying treasurer.<\/p>\n
The amount of money distributed might reach 30 percent of the
\ntotal value of the project. In Indonesia you must have guts to
\nget involved in collusion.<\/p>\n
So, the winning contractor still enjoyed a profit amounting to
\nabout 10 percent of the net value of the project. Unless you know
\nthis trick and are ready to play the game, you will not get a
\ncontract. Competition is really tough among contractors.<\/p>\n
Obviously, the losing parties are the Republic of Indonesia
\nand our children and grandchildren who will have to pay off the
\ndebts this country incurs.<\/p>\n
I know a directorate general official who happens to be the
\nproject officer of some projects funded by international loans.
\nHe is very rich and is the owner of four houses in Jakarta. He
\nalso owns one bungalow and two more houses outside Jakarta. He
\nhas three cars and his children are educated in Australia. He is
\nonly a civil servant of IV\/A category and officially earns about
\nRp 500,000 a month.<\/p>\n
It is true that World Bank funded projects will not be
\nparalyzed because the administrative reports, made in the
\nknowledge of the bank's representative in Indonesia, are correct
\nand clean. However, the reports are in fact only a cover-up as
\nthe quality of the projects is actually very low.<\/p>\n
This system applies to most government projects funded by
\neither the state budget or by international loans. Collusion and
\ncorruption grow well in Indonesia and will continue.<\/p>\n
According to a 1996 annual survey and study conducted by
\nTransparency International in Berlin, Indonesia is the second
\nworst country in the world in terms of corruption. Topping the
\nlist in this regard is Pakistan.<\/p>\n
In Pakistan it was this very problem that brought down the
\nBhutto regime. In Indonesia there is no cure for a corrupt
\nsituation.<\/p>\n
Is Golkar (the Functional Group), the winner of the 1997
\ngeneral election, daring enough to eradicate corruption? Only
\nbragging about it is of no use.<\/p>\n
SUHARSONO HADIKUSUMO<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/leaking-of-world-bank-aid-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }