'Boediono must deal with customs office'
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Importers Association (Ginsi) urged on Monday Minister of Finance Boediono to immediately take serious steps to deal with the corrupt and inefficient customs service.
"Only bold measures would be able to address the severe problems within the customs service, given the strong opposition from the vested interests within the customs directorate general to any reform," Amirudin Saud, chairman of the association, said.
Citing an example, Amirudin pointed to the membership of an advisory committee the government was now preparing to monitor and advise the customs directorate general regarding the implementation of a 17-point reform of the customs service.
"I learn that the members of the advisory committee who are proposed by Customs and Excise Duty Director General Permana Agung are mostly those who are close to him and who are most likely willing to toe his line," he added.
The membership of the advisory committee, as stipulated in the customs reform agreement with the International Monetary Fund, is supposed to include the representatives of organizations which often deal with the customs service such as importers, exporters and industrial associations, Amirudin said.
He urged the finance minister, who directly supervises the customs service, to thoroughly check all members nominated for both the advisory committee and the steering committee which will soon be set up as part of the reform of the customs service.
Amirudin warned that if the two committees included mostly close associates or cronies of the customs director general, the whole reform measures would be impaired.
Permana was not available to comment on Monday.
However, in a special interview with The Jakarta Post last Thursday, Permana said he was committed to reforming the agency based on the 17-point programs recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
He said details of the program will be discussed by a steering committee chaired by Boediono and including the representatives of the business sector. This committee is expected to finalize details of the program by the end of this year so the reform program could be implemented next year.
He said one of the most important points of the programs was the establishment of the Ethical Code Committee, which would comprise officials from the Ministry of Finance's Inspectorate General, General Secretariat, Customs and Excise Office and representatives of business community.
This committee would be empowered to sack officials implicated in serious corruption.
Permana noted that under the existing regulations, it may take years to sack a governmental official, even if he or she was proved to have been involved in corruption. The Ethical Code Committee is expected to cut short the process.
Permana said under the 17-point program, the government would also establish a Customs and Excise Ombudsman to watch over the behavior of customs and excise officials. The non-governmental organization Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) will be requested to do the same job as the ombudsman.
Businessmen and experts have lauded the 17-point programs as a positive step in the efforts to reform the customs office, but they warned it would be difficult to reform the office given the corrupt mentality of its low-paid officials. They said tough measures against corrupt officials should be coupled with an increase in their salaries.
17-point program at customs and excise 1. Implementing a new row system 2. Developing the customs electronic data exchange community 3. Improving the payment procedure 4. Importers registration in line with customs' requirements 5. Optimizing supervisions in pre-clearance and clearance stages 6. Redefining the verification activities 7. Developing the program for duty arrears collection 8. Improving the pricing data base 9. Forming a special ethical code for the customs office 10. Enhancing employees' welfare 11. Forming an internal supervision unit 12. Developing a system to receive complaints from the public 13. Forming the ethical code committee 14. Forming a special customs and excise ombudsman 15. Forming the customs and excise advisory committee 16. Forming a forum on customs and excise facilities 17. Upgrading the customs and excise website