Finance ministry establishes new unit to combat graft
Finance ministry establishes new unit to combat graft
Urip Hudiono and Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The Ministry of Finance announced on Wednesday the
establishment of a powerful new unit assigned to combat rampant
corruption within the ministry.
Ministry of Finance Inspectorate General Agus Muhammad said it
would be called the Unit for Investigation (IBI), and would have
the authority to fully investigate corruption reports and mete
out punishment on officials involved in corruption.
"The IBI is expected to support the reform programs at the
Directorate General of Taxation and the Directorate General of
Customs and Excise," said Agus.
The tax and customs directorates, which are under the auspices
of the Ministry of Finance, are widely known as two of the
country's most corrupt offices with losses in state revenues
amounting to trillions of rupiah.
The weak supervisory system at the Ministry of Finance is seen
as one of the main factors for corruption among its officials.
A senior official at the Ministry of Finance once said the
lead in combating corruption at the Ministry of Finance is meant
to be taken by the Inspectorate General and the National
Ombudsman Commission (NOC). However, the NOC is completely
toothless because it lacks the authority to investigate any
reports or complaints from the public.
Meanwhile, the Inspectorate General, which has more power than
the NOC, cannot function effectively because it does not have the
authority to seek evidence of corruption from someone who filed a
complaint.
The office can only investigate the accused officials, without
being able to confirm the results of the investigation with the
complainants.
Agus, however, said under the new decree issued by the
Minister of Finance, that the IBI would have greater authority to
receive corruption reports from the public, or follow up reports
by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the Attorney
General's Office, the police and the media.
"The investigators will be given wider authority to
investigate suspicious officials and hand down administrative
punishment, ranging from demotions to dismissal," said Agus,
adding that the investigators would be able to collect facts
directly without prior approval from the officials' supervisors.
The IBI currently has 25 investigators with clean track
records.
The public is expected to report corruption involving finance
ministry officials to its toll-free, 24-hour hotline 0800-155-
6538, send a letter to PO BOX 2002 or a facsimile (021) 3842074.
Elsewhere, commenting on the ministry's new anticorruption
unit, economist Faisal Basri and Ade Irawan from Indonesian
Corruption Watch (ICW) welcomed it, but doubted its effectiveness
if the investigators were not supported by complete regulations
for carrying out their duties.
"The regulations should clearly state that the officials have
the full authority to investigate any indications of corruption,"
said Faisal. "Many cases are stopped short because previous
officials did not have such authority."
Ade, meanwhile, said that low-level officials would also need
impunity against any intervention from their superiors, which has
become a common problem in eradicating internal corruption.