Corruption 'most rampant at the top'

Corruption 'most rampant at the top'

JAKARTA (JP): A former top government auditor said yesterday
that corruption among Indonesian policy makers and high officials
was the worst in the country and yet the most difficult to
overcome because of the weak supervisory system.

Gandhi, a former head of the Government Financial Comptroller
Agency (BPKP), noted the lack of transparency and public
disclosures in corruption investigations did not help to prevent
the recurrence of malfeasance.

Gandhi, now a member of the expert staff in the Supreme Audit
Agency, was speaking at a discussion organized by the Center for
Information and Development Studies (CIDES) on creating a clean
government.

The meeting concluded that creating a clean government is
crucial to rebuilding confidence in the crisis-hit economy, which
was recently bailed out with a US$43 billion aid package brokered
by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"Our management supervision system is too weak to fight
collusion and corruption," Gandhi said, adding that the current
system could at best address only minor cases of malfeasance.

He pointed out that as chief of BPKP he had often tried to
proceed with serious corruption cases in various government
institutions, only to have his efforts thwarted by officials in
higher positions.

"Investigations into serious cases of corruption could take
three years to complete," he said, adding that the secretive
nature of the investigation process failed to discourage people
from indulging in corrupt activities.

Gandhi explained that among the various corrupt acts which
high officials indulged in included proceeding with unnecessary
projects; allocating projects with an inflated budget to well-
connected contractors; forcing state-owned companies to buy
shares in poorly performing companies owned by people close to
the powerful elite; buying unnecessary supplies at higher prices;
investing state money in banks which provide good commissions;
selling state assets at lower prices or exchanging them for
lower-valued private assets; and tax evasion through collusion.

BPKP announced in 1996 that the finance ministry had the worst
record in terms of the amount of funds which were manipulated for
corrupt purposes, including those related to tax payments.

Irregularities in the ministries of agriculture, home
affairs, transportation, mines and energy, cooperatives, and
industry and trade were also reported to be extensive.

Gandhi said that improving the performance of the Supreme
Audit Agency (Bepeka) would help to curb rampant corruption among
senior officials.

Under the 1945 Constitution, Bepeka is mandated to
independently audit state finances and report its findings to the
House of Representatives (DPR).

"Once a corruption case reaches the DPR, the accused officials
would be nervous because then the case can be publicized through
the media," he said, adding that such publicity would help
discourage other people from committing similar crimes.

In an effort to stem malfeasance in the new cabinet, President
Soeharto has ordered his 36 ministers, provincial governors and
certain other officials to declare their personal wealth.
However, the reports will be presented to the President alone.

"It's nonsense," said Christianto Wibisono, head of the
Indonesia Data Business Center (PDBI), who also spoke at
yesterday's gathering.

He said that a similarly closed reporting mechanism had been
applied during the reign of the notorious French emperor Napoleon
Bonaparte, who would accept criticism provided it was given
privately, and not publicized.

"In a modern system, a transparent and full disclosure
mechanism is needed," he said, arguing that declarations on the
wealth of top government officials should not merely be kept in
the President's filling cabinet.

"The reports should be made available to the public because
that would discourage corruption," Gandhi added.

Gandhi said there ought to be moves to change the current
supervision system and make public disclosures commonplace in
investigations into corruption. (08)