Audit commission to verify officials' wealth

Audit commission to verify officials' wealth

JAKARTA (JP): The Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission
(KPKPN) disclosed on Monday that only 18 percent of state
officials had returned their wealth declaration forms, and of
those, almost half contained irregularities.

Commission member Soekotjo Soeprapto said the commission would
soon begin verifying 1,500 out of 3,126 wealth reports made by
state officials and personally check their wealth.

"The commission has set up a team to make lists of those who
will be questioned, and we will work in cooperation with
university students to check their wealth," Soekotjo said.

He did not give the exact time of the verification, saying
only "soon, very soon".

"We have prepared the team and the material to be verified,"
he said.

When asked what items in the declaration form needed to be
verified, Soekotjo refused to elaborate.

"This shouldn't be published. We are afraid that some
officials might prepare themselves if they know."

A total of 24,999 forms were distributed to state officials,
military/police officers, judges and legislators in March. But
since then, only 3,126 forms have been returned to the
commission.

The names of those who have not submitted their forms will be
announced in the media by the end of the month, he said.

He was speaking to reporters after attending a national dialog
on commitment and the agenda of development agents toward good
governance.

Soekotjo also aired his concerns on state officials who had
yet to return the wealth declaration forms, saying, "with all due
respect, I don't know what they are thinking. They have gone way
beyond the deadline."

He said the officials should have returned the forms within a
month after they received them.

"Our weakness is that we don't have the authority to give
sanctions (to those who have not returned the forms), so our only
recourse is to publish their names in the media," he said, adding
that the move was part of the commission's commitment to the
public.

While the establishment of the commission in January received
a warm response from the public, observers have said that no one
should have any high hopes as the commission lacks the legal
authority to carry out investigations over any possible
irregularities in reports.(emf/dja)