BPK finds signs of budgetary corruption

BPK finds signs of budgetary corruption

JAKARTA (JP): Strong indications exist of corruption of state
and provincial budget allocations earmarked to finance government
projects during the 1997/1998 fiscal year, the Supreme Audit Body
(Bapeka) reported yesterday.

The findings were detailed in an 830-page report presented by
the deputy of Bapeka, Kunarto, to the House of Representatives
(DPR).

It did not specify the amount siphoned off.

Kunarto said, however, that the agency's inquiry was far from
satisfying because it only investigated a small part of the
realization of the 1997/1998 State Budget.

Of more than 4,400 items for investigation valued at Rp 189.14
trillion (about US$23.64 billion), only 4.88 percent equal to Rp
8.39 trillion could be probed by Bepeka, Kunarto was quoted by
Antara as saying.

He added that the agency had faced a similar handicap in
studying the realization of the 1996/1997 state budget.

In the provincial budget with 904 investigation items worth Rp
38 trillion, the agency could only examine 33 projects totaling
Rp 1.66 trillion, he said.

Kunarto explained that there was an urgent need to boost the
agency's inspection capability to ensure accuracy in evaluating
accountability in the use of state finances.

Based on the Constitution, Bepeka is assigned as the highest
independent institution to audit state finances. It reports its
findings to the DPR.

Improving the performance of the body, including its human
resources and budget, would help curb the alarming level of
corruption in the country, an expert at the agency, Gandhi, said
at a seminar earlier this year.

He explained that the level of corruption among the country's
top policy makers was the most pervasive and the most difficult
to overcome because the high-ranking officials were afforded
protection by the weak supervision system.

"There must be a political will to change the current
supervision system and make public disclosure a custom in the
process of investigating corruption cases," he said.

Publicizing corruption cases would discourage the practice, he
added.

The problem of corruption has come to the fore again as the
country is mired in its worst economic crisis in more than 30
years. The government has agreed to follow wide-ranging economic
reforms sponsored by the International Monetary Fund.

Many have argued, however, that the full restoration of the
country's economy could not be effectively achieved unless
President Soeharto makes a serious effort to curb corruption.

"If he fails, the political and economic conditions could turn
for the worse," former minister Siswono Yudohusodo said in a
seminar last month.

Students in major cities have staged demonstrations in the
past few weeks demanding political reform and doubting the
government's ability to solve the crisis.

Demonstrations have turned to riots, especially in Medan, the
provincial capital of North Sumatra, when the government raised
fuel and electricity prices this week in an effort to ease the
burden of the 1998/1999 State Budget. (rei)