MTI urges Sutiyoso to seriously look into Rp 820b irregularities<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Transparency Society (MTI) said Governor Sutiyoso
\nwas ultimately responsible for irregularities in the
\nadministration uncovered by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK).<\/p>\n
\"The leader of any institution is responsible for what is done
\nby his subordinates, so the governor should tell the head of each
\nworking unit to pay serious attention to the findings (by the
\nBPK),\" MTI chairman Sudirman Said told The Jakarta Post on
\nSunday.<\/p>\n
Sudirman was commenting on an announcement by the BPK that it
\nhad uncovered about Rp 820 billion (US$97.62 million) in
\nfinancial irregularities at eight institutions under the city
\nadministration's control and in four city-owned enterprises.<\/p>\n
The findings were based on the BPK's audit of routine and
\ndevelopmental expenses in the 2001 and 2002 budgets at the eight
\ninstitutions and the 2001 and 2002 books at the four city-owned
\ncompanies.<\/p>\n
City Audit Agency (Bawasda) chairman Firman Hutajulu played
\ndown the BPK's findings, saying such irregularities should not be
\ninterpreted as indications of corruption. He said the
\nirregularities could be mere procedural and administrative
\nerrors.<\/p>\n
Sudirman criticized Firman for trying to simplify and brush
\noff the irregularities. He said these kinds of statements
\nusually indicated a city official trying to cover up mistakes.<\/p>\n
\"If they (Bawasda) worked well, they would have detected the
\nirregularities in the use of taxpayer money by institutions under
\nthe city administration's control,\" Sudirman told the Post.<\/p>\n
He said if existing control mechanisms worked well
\nirregularities and corruption in government agencies could be
\ncurbed, pointing to fact that there were numerous institutions
\nwhose task it was to supervise the administration, including BPK,
\nthe development and financial audit agency (BPKP), Bawasda and
\ninspectorate offices.<\/p>\n
The commitment of the top leaders in the administration to
\nfighting corruption is key for eradicating corruption, collusion
\nand nepotism, Sudirman added.<\/p>\n
The difficulty in fighting corruption in the bureaucracy,
\nSudirman said, is that there is a lack of commitment to dealing
\nwith the issue because officials are reluctant to punish those
\nguilty of the crime.<\/p>\n
\"It is easy to see why corruption in the bureaucracy cannot be
\ncurbed, as officials who frequently commit the offense are never
\npunished by their bosses,\" Sudirman said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the chairman of the City Council's Commission D for
\ndevelopment affairs, Koeswadi Soesilohardjo, stressed the need
\nfor the city administration to follow up on the BPK report to see
\nif any crimes were committed.<\/p>\n
An investigation would help determine whether the
\nirregularities were the result of corruption or were merely
\nadministrative and procedure mistakes, he said.<\/p>\n
\"If the governor does not follow up on the findings, it could
\nlead to suspicion that he was involved in the irregularities
\ncommitted by his subordinates,\" Koeswadi said, adding that if
\nthere was adequate evidence of corruption the suspects should be
\ntaken to court.<\/p>\n
According to recent reports, there are a number of outstanding
\ncorruption cases allegedly involving city officials. Almost none
\nof these cases have ended up in the courts. In a few cases
\nseveral low-ranking officials received administrative sanctions,
\nbut their supervisors were untouched.<\/p>",
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