RI urged to seriously combat corruption<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Foreign creditors grouped in the Consultative Group for Indonesia
\n(CGI) have reiterated their calls for the government to intensify
\nmeasures to fight corruption and curb illegal logging, in a bid
\nto restore their confidence in the country.<\/p>\n
The call was made during the last day of the two-day CGI
\nmeeting here on Thursday, with creditors pledging to hand over a
\ntotal of US$3.4 billion in new loans and grants.<\/p>\n
According to Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh, most
\ncreditor countries grilled the government over what they consider
\nto be poor handling of the efforts to eliminate corruption by
\nstate officials.<\/p>\n
\"They asked about our commitment to combat corruption and
\nillegal logging, which often involves key state officials,\" he
\nsaid after the meeting.<\/p>\n
The creditors, he added, asked if the government was serious
\nin establishing special commissions to supervise the performance
\nof police and prosecutors, and prevent them from conspiring with
\nwhite-collar thieves and embezzlers.<\/p>\n
The absence of sufficient independent supervision has led to
\nthese two institutions -- supposedly the front-runners in the
\ncampaign against corruption -- to regularly abuse their
\nauthority.<\/p>\n
\"Creditors also questioned the government's time frame in
\nsetting up the commissions, as they would be very helpful in
\n'cleaning out' corrupt law enforcers. We told them that the
\nestablishment (of these commissions) would be done soon,\" Abdul
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Corrupt practices are common in Indonesia -- the country is
\none of the most corrupt in the world -- and have flourished for
\ndecades at almost every level of government, without signs of
\nabating. It has caused business costs to soar and made the
\ncountry economically less competitive.<\/p>\n
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) estimate that up to 30
\npercent of the country's foreign loans are embezzled by state
\nofficials.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, H.S. Dillon, executive director for Partnership for
\nGovernance Reform in Indonesia, said at the meeting that most
\ncreditors were urging the government to set a deadline for
\nfighting corruption so that they could clearly measure the
\ngovernment's performance in this matter.<\/p>\n
\"Creditors said that the government needed to put more effort
\ninto anti-graft drives, despite forming the Corruption
\nEradication Commission (KPK). Creditors' confidence in the
\ncountry will decline unless such issues are resolved,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Neither Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Aburizal
\nBakrie, nor State Minister of National Development
\nPlanning\/National Development Planning Board chairwoman, Sri
\nMulyani Indrawati, acknowledged corruption as the most important
\nissue raised by creditors during the meeting.<\/p>\n
\"There are no conditions or terms set by creditors for the
\nloans and grants because they are confident that we can eliminate
\ncorruption based on our five-year development programs,\" Mulyani
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Creditors also urged the government to be serious in its
\nefforts to alleviate poverty and to narrow the gap between the
\nnation's rich and poor in both urban and rural areas,
\nCoordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab said.<\/p>\n
Aside from that, creditors requested that the government
\nintensify its campaign to reduce mortality resulting from poor
\npublic services and malnutrition.<\/p>\n
Creditor countries also want the government to reform the
\nsecurity environment by providing police with adequate equipment
\nand skills, said Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and
\nSecurity Affairs Widodo Adi Sucipto.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-urged-to-seriously-combat-corruption-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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