Council to set up team to probe city corruption

JAKARTA (JP): City Council Commission A on government affairs will establish a team to investigate allegations of corruption, collusion and nepotism within the city administration, an official said on Thursday.

"We're now preparing a draft for the establishment of the investigation team. Hopefully, it will be ready soon," the commission's deputy chief, Syarifien Maloko, said during a discussion cohosted by Elshinta radio station and Forum Cipta Bangsa on the eradication of corruption, collusion and nepotism among city officials.

Syarifien, a councillor from the Crescent Star Party (PBB) faction, said the team would consist of representatives from several factions in the City Council and would be equipped with procedural and implementation guidelines to investigate unlawful practices.

"I believe we have more opportunities than difficulties in investigating the cases. We just have to figure out the procedures and the mechanisms.

"The team will enable us to conduct preliminary investigations based on input from the public or councillors on any alleged KKN by officials," he said, referring to corruption, collusion and nepotism by its acronym.

The findings of the team, Syarifien said, would be internally discussed in Commission A before being handed over to the City Council for further discussion.

Amarullah Asbah, the chairman of Commission C on financial affairs, said the plan was in line with Law No. 22/1999 on regional administration, which grants the City Council the right to request the accountability of the governor and regents, and to conduct investigations.

He said councillors so far faced difficulties in conducting investigations because the administration was not transparent, especially where financial details were concerned.

Amarullah, a Golkar Party councillor, also said the City Council could not investigate KKN cases without input from the Jakarta Inspectorate Office, which is responsible for helping the governor monitor irregularities within the administration.

The office is currently supported by the governor-initiated Reform Monitoring and Control Team (TP2R) in investigating cases of KKN which fall outside its jurisdiction, such as at the various Jakarta ministerial offices. Both the inspectorate office and TP2R report to the governor.

Commission A members said on Tuesday they doubted the inspectorate office could carry out its tasks properly because it was structurally part of the city administration.

Besides calling for an independent inspectorate office and the abolition of TP2R, commission members also suggested the establishment of an independent team made up of activists, experts and other community members to investigate cases of KKN.

TP2R said that since its establishment in May 1998, it had uncovered 1,364 irregularities within the administration, 755 of which currently are being investigated, with another two already having been settled in court.

Farid R. Faqih, coordinator of Government Watch, is pessimistic Council members can settle the KKN cases because they themselves are not free from such practices.

"The government officials' reluctance to publicly reveal their wealth is an early indication of their lack of seriousness in eradicating KKN," he said. (06)