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.