BPK, ADB seek inputs in fund management

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Recalling the time when Mount Agung in Bali erupted in 1963, Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) chairman Anwar Nasution said that donations of condensed milk for the victims of the terrible disaster had been abundant.

Unfortunately, he continued, most of the donated milk was later found to be on sale at Pasar Senen in Central Jakarta, rather than having been distributed to the victims in Denpasar as initially intended.

To guard against the possibility that aid for tsunami- devastated Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and parts of North Sumatra might also be misused, the BPK and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will hold a three-day international conference starting next Monday to enhance accountability in aid management.

"The conference is important to show that Indonesia -- which has been branded as one of the world's most corrupt countries -- is serious in its fight against corruption," Anwar said.

"It will also serve as a forum to share experiences with other countries on disaster management and the auditing of aid funds, which will hopefully contribute to the BPK's ability to strengthen transparency in the country."

Experts from state audit institutions in Austria, Malaysia, the Maldives, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, and the U.S. will attend the conference, which will include a one-day visit to Banda Aceh.

The BPK will cooperate with the experts in exploring the necessary financial control measures to ensure that all funds provided for relief efforts and reconstruction projects are properly disbursed, effectively used and fully accounted for.

The BPK itself, Anwar explained, will conduct three types of audits on the funds -- namely regular financial audits, environmental audits, and conflict audits.

"We will work together with the government in preparing a better financial reporting system that complies with the BPK's auditing system so that none of the funds end up being misused or wasted," he said.

"The reporting needs to cover where the funds come from, where they go to, what happens to leftover funds, and in which government accounts leftover funds should be deposited."

The environmental audit, meanwhile, will be assisted by experts from Canada and Norway, two countries that have committed themselves to helping rehabilitate the natural resources destroyed by the tsunami in Aceh. The audit will ensure that the government follows its blueprint for the reconstruction of Aceh.

"We will also try to conduct a conflict audit, considering the fact that Aceh has for years been a conflict area," he said, without elaborating further on what this sort of audit entailed.

Apart from staging the conference, the BPK also opened a representative office in Banda Aceh last week to monitor the reconstruction period, which is expected to start at the end of this month.

According to the government, the losses and damage caused by the tsunami amounts to US$4.5 billion, and around the same amount will be needed for reconstruction.

Donor countries have pledged a total of $6 billion to tsunami- affected countries in the region, with most of the aid money being earmarked for Indonesia.