Baramuli, lawmaker who provokes curiosity
JAKARTA (JP): Among 35 people awarded Indonesia's second highest distinguished medal, the Bintang Mahaputra, was outspoken legislator A.A. Baramuli whose ideas and statements often provoke public curiosity.
The award presentation was held last Friday in conjunction with the country's 52nd independence anniversary which fell on Sunday.
Baramuli, along with a few other House members, once suggested the need for Indonesia to set up an anti-corruption agency to diminish, if not eliminate, rampant monetary irregularities of government officials throughout the country.
He said to achieve a clean government, high-ranking officials should announce their wealth so as to instill public trust that they did not collude in exercising their authority and power.
"There must always be a beginning for something -- also in fighting corruption. Perhaps the government could begin by whitewashing the origin and whereabouts of officials' wealth and then ask them to contribute 30 percent of what they own to the country," Baramuli told The Jakarta Post in an interview Monday.
He also said paying civil servants with sound and realistic salaries would be one way of eliminating corruption, which would eventually lead to a high-cost economy.
"(Realistic salaries) are needed so that civil servants can earn more than just to make ends meet, as well as finance their children's education," he added.
Touching on the widening economic gap between the rich and poor, he said the government should take concrete steps to overcome the issue by implementing a fair system of wealth distribution to all layers of society.
Baramuli made headlines in local newspapers three years ago when he disclosed a US$430 million letter of credit fiasco at a state-owned bank.
It was the greatest bank scam that ever occurred in the country. The case drew public attention, especially after the perpetrator, Eddy Tansil, escaped from prison in May last year.
Born in July 1930, in Pinrang, South Sulawesi, Baramuli graduated from the prestigious University of Indonesia's School of Law in 1955.
In 1960, at the age of 29, he was appointed governor of South and Central Sulawesi -- troubled regions that were affected by a separatist rebellion on the island.
Currently, Baramuli is active in the National Commission on Human Rights and is chairman of the Supervisory Council of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
When asked about his services to the country which earned him the Mahaputra medal, Baramuli said there were at least two occasions which impressed him most. The first one was when he helped transport some 10,000 Permesta rebels from Sulawesi to Java and persuaded them to pledge loyalty to the central government in the early 1960s.
The second was when he and his colleagues from the human rights commission helped settle the decade-long land dispute between landowners and developers in East Java.
"We approached the disputing parties humanely and realistically in solving their problems," he said. (ego)