Fighting graft may be long and painful

Fighting graft may be long and painful

JAKARTA (JP): Minister for Investment and State Enterprises
Laksamana Sukardi said on Saturday fighting the country's
systemic and deep rooted corruption could result in a long and
painful process for society.

"We must also look forward because we do not want to destroy
our entire economy dealing with the crimes of the past. When
corruption is deeply rooted, pulling out the roots can also
damage the soil," he said in a speech on the second day of the
International Conference on Transition and Globalization in
Bangkok.

But Laksamana also said one could not make a fresh start on a
corruption-free future without chasing the corruptors of the
past.

"It's partly a matter of credibility and accountability. But
it's also the fact that many of the effects of past corruptions
are a burden on today's society who must pay the costs of
cleaning up the mess," he said.

He said it is best to proceed using a combination of both
approaches.

"As a first principle, we cannot ignore cases of corruption
that involve a shift of financial burden and a loss to the
public," Laksamana said.

The current government is facing a huge challenge in cleaning
up the corrupt mess inherited from the previous authoritarian
government of Soeharto. Indonesia has been ranked as one of the
most corrupt countries in the world.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industry
Kwik Kian Gie said recently fighting corruption thoroughly could
seriously damage the economy as most businesspeople would end up
in jail.

Laksamana has vowed to fight corruption ever since he first
took office in October.

It is public knowledge that state-owned enterprises and banks
were treated as cash cows by the Soeharto family and their
cronies.

Laksamana's first attempt was the recent disclosure of the
trade facilities granted to the giant textile and engineering
Texmaco Group form state-bank BNI, which he said was made
possible due to the personal intervention of Soeharto.

Laksamana said cleaning up the corruption of the past was one
of the challenges Indonesians were facing in the transition from
authoritarianism toward democracy.

"The entire effort is severely compromised by the fact that
the entire government, more so in Indonesia than in other
countries that have experienced transitions, is still run by
bureaucrats who in spirit and practice still want to serve the
top people of the previous regime," he said.

"This makes it very hard to get immediate responses from the
government apparatus for change."

Laksamana said another problem was honoring contracts made by
the previous government, particularly in the mining,
infrastructure and utilities sectors.

"On the one hand, Indonesia must maintain a reputation of
upholding contracts to the international community. Who will
bear the risk of investment if there is no certainty and
integrity in our contracts?"

But he said that, on the other hand, there was a widespread
perception that many of the contracts were the result of
collusion and corruption.

"It is an enormous challenge to balance international
credibility against these powerful, domestic, political
sentiments demanding the contracts be fair, transparent and
untainted by corruption," he said. (rei)