City told to curb misuse of funds

JAKARTA (JP): City councilors urged the municipality Saturday to tighten its control and supervision of officials' behavior to help prevent the misuse of city funds.

They made the remarks in response to the discovery of 1,046 suspected incidents of malfeasance by the City Inspectorate Division this year.

Lukman Mokoginta from the Indonesian Democratic Party told The Jakarta Post that such malfeasance incidents were typical in the municipality.

"This is a characteristic of the bureaucracy disease. In time, with the launching of the National Disciplinary Movement and the increased awareness of the officials, the number of such incidents will decline."

But every year numerous cases are abandoned because they cannot be solved, he said.

Of the 1,046 suspected acts of malfeasance uncovered this year, 489 deal with wrongdoings, ranging from indisciplinary actions through abuse of power to corruption; 441 with manipulative actions and 116 with land cases.

The data show that this dishonesty has caused the city administration to suffer losses of about Rp 2.87 billion (US$795,000).

"The number of malfeasance cases should be reduced. In order to do that, the city needs to improve coordination between its high-ranking officials and their subordinates," Lukman said.

For instance, the senior officers must be consistent in applying the rules.

"If the superiors act recklessly, imagine what their subordinates will do. High-ranking officials must be role-models for their junior officers.

"It is a fact that our society is a paternalistic one, which still requires a model to lead people's way of life. The same situation occurs in the municipality," Lukman said.

Lukman also underlined the importance of boldness to cover up violations occurring in the municipality.

"So far, the municipality has revealed only the number of incidents of malfeasance. But it has never presented any names or sanctions given to the violators.

"In the future this is very important, because it will teach the officials concerned a hard lesson," he said.

Lukman also urged municipality officials not to shirk from reporting violations committed by their colleagues.

"Usually they are afraid to report the matter, or eventually they join the violators. This kind of action must be stopped," he said.

Saud Rachman of Commission D for development affairs told the Post that it was also time for Governor Sutiyoso to improve his control over his subordinates.

"I find many of them sleep during working hours. Many of them chat for hours, too," Saud said.

Saud urged the governor to act on this matter soon. "If those indisciplinary matters are left unattended, it will be hard to kick the habit."

The governor should also act as an exemplary role model for his subordinates by doing little things properly, such as turning up on time.

"If the governor arrives late at ceremonies, it will have a bad effect on his officials," he added. (edt)