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)