City officials lambasted over huge budget losses

JAKARTA (JP): A city councilor lambasted city administration officials yesterday for chronic corruption and collusion practices as the reason behind the huge amount of money missing from the city budget.

Djafar Badjeber, head of Commission B for economic affairs, said many officials from the lowest to the highest ranks were involved in the malfeasance mainly due to the absence of control and supervision.

"There are actually some mechanisms of control and supervision for officials and their performance, but none of them work properly," he said.

He declined to give an exact figure for losses in the administration's budget, but some media claimed last week that it reached about 35 percent a year.

"I don't know the exact amount but I think it might just be more or less the same. But I'm not surprised. This country has always been labeled the most corrupt country in the world, anyway," he said.

He said the administration always defended itself from public criticism and vowed to fix officials' performance, but no action had ever been taken.

"It is hardly a secret that until now some administration officials still collect illegal fees, mark up the value of the projects they handle or receive bribes," he said.

Many errant officials have taken advantage of the budget by marking up the value of the projects managed by their departments, he said.

The markup of projects not only led to improper construction, but also to low quality infrastructure and public facilities, he added.

"Developers certainly downgrade the quality of their projects because they lack the funds to meet all the demanded specifications, as part of the money would be given to officials in the first place," said Djafar.

Meanwhile, Deputy Governor of Finance Harun Al Rasyid defended his personnel, saying the councilor should not make such accusations until after a thorough investigation had been conducted.

"Leakage and malfeasance in the budget or revenue can't just be seen with bare eyes. They must be proven. We can't just accuse," he said Friday.

Harun instead said leakages in the budget or city revenue could just as easily be committed by the administration's business partners who deliberately marked down a project's value or did not pay the proper taxes and levies.

"Maybe it's just their way to gain more profit," he said.

Harun admitted that the administration had a problem with inefficiency.

"It certainly exists here. Well, we're only human. But I think we have to reactivate the internal supervision to help reduce inefficiency," said Harun.

According to Djafar, the administration should change its payment system if it wants to reduce leakage and malfeasance.

The current system requires the public to pay fees or levies for services from the administration directly to officials at related departments.

"The current payment system really gives some errant officials a chance to be easily involved in corruption or collusion," said Djafar.

He said all payments should be made through an administration fund account at city-owned Bank DKI.

The administration should also establish an independent board to audit its assets and then control the utilization of the assets in its activities or projects, he added.

"The purpose is to make sure the administration earns a profit," said Djafar. (cst)