Corrupt bureaucrates attacked

JAKARTA (JP): A senior official at the Ministry of Home Affairs renewed his attack yesterday against fellow officials for taking bribes from prospective employees.

"There have been cases recently where the recruitment of Ministry of Home Affairs employees was done in ways which were not objective," according to the ministry's secretary-general Suryatna Subrata yesterday. "They were recruited in a corrupt manner."

Addressing a monthly gathering of employees at the ministry, Suryatna said such corrupt practices would adversely influence the employees' performance.

This is the second time Suryatna has revealed corruption in his office. In Bali last week, he admitted that some civil servants in all ministries had not been recruited in an objective and fair manner, and that some job applicants had bribed officials.

"The practice is common in every region of the country," he said then, adding that bribery was only one of several corrupt practices. He identified nepotism as another practice that adversely influenced the quality of Indonesia's human resources.

He said the ministry had imposed administrative sanctions on officials found guilty of violating the established procedure for civil servants' recruitment.

He cited that some officials at several Central Java offices had either been reprimanded, demoted or even fired.

He blamed the rampant corruption on the weak supervisory system, but promised to make improvements.

Vice President Try Sutrisno opened a gathering of officials yesterday to discuss administrative reform. He stressed to the audience the importance of an efficient organization for the sake of improved regional autonomy.

"Regional autonomy needs appropriate organizational support so the state apparatus can effectively and efficiently run the country," he said.

Try maintained that regional autonomy was one of the best ways to implement economical, social and political development. (imn)