Anti-Corruption Activists Warn APBD Should Not Be a Slush Fund for Officials

Anti-corruption activist Uha Juhana has warned that the use of regional budgets (APBD) must not be treated as an interest-free bailout fund for officials. He noted that while a number of regions have received an Unqualified Opinion (WTP) from the Audit Board of Indonesia (BPK), significant findings of misuse worth billions of rupiah still appear in the BPK’s reports, leading to recommendations for Tuntutan Ganti Rugi (TGR) or compensation claims. He cited an example in Kuningan Regency, where the BPK found that the expenditure treasurer of the Education Office had used funds for purposes not in accordance with their allocation. Juhana stressed that a WTP opinion is an administrative assessment of financial statement fairness, not a guarantee that corruption is absent. He warned that if the TGR mechanism is seen as a simple way to settle misuse of funds without addressing internal controls, the APBD could be perceived as an interest-free loan facility, creating a dangerous moral hazard in state financial management.