Government may OK audit agency in Aceh

Government may OK audit agency in Aceh

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

One way of paying our respects to the more than 200,000 people
who died or are still missing, and the nearly half a million
others left homeless by the tsunami disaster in Aceh, is to
ensure that every penny in aid is accounted for.

Toward this end, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has decided to
open an office in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh tasked
with closely monitoring the use of tsunami aid, with disbursed
funds, according to the government, now reaching about Rp 2.68
trillion (US$289 million).

"We expect the office to start operating next month, before
the reconstruction period begins," BPK head Anwar Nasution said
on Saturday, during a meeting with officials from the Office of
the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, which coordinates
the Aceh relief funds.

The meeting, which BPK held to receive the government's latest
report on tsunami funds for Aceh, was attended by several members
of the House of Representative's budget committee, as well as
representatives from the World Bank, the USAID and AusAID donor
agencies, and the embassies of France, Germany, and the
Netherlands.

Anwar explained that the office would be important in
monitoring aid funds following the commencement of the
reconstruction period, as well as the wrapping up of various
emergency relief efforts.

"Proper accounting and auditing would be particularly crucial
during the reconstruction period, as experience shows that
procurement and construction projects -- which would be carried
out during that time -- are prone to corruption," he said.

The audit office, Anwar said, would also make it easier for
the BPK to directly monitor the funds, as it had usually
conducted its auditing of tsunami funds from its office in Medan.

The government has scheduled the reconstruction period in Aceh
to begin on March 26, after a month-long emergency response
period. During the current transitional period, semi-permanent
shelters have been built for displaced persons.

The BPK had previously urged the government to deploy its
internal auditors from the State Comptroller Agency (BPKP) and
ministerial inspectorate generals to audit the tsunami funds. The
BPK itself has planned to cooperate with auditing agencies from
donor countries in the final auditing of the funds.

Concerning the funds, Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar
Chamsyah, who represented Coordinating Minister for People's
Welfare Alwi Shihab in the meeting, explained that the government
had, as of Feb. 25, received Rp 2.24 trillion in aid funds from
foreign donors, and Rp 432.9 billion in aid funds from domestic
donors.

The BPK has estimated that the government would have to
account for a total of Rp 40 trillion in tsunami funds.

The BPK is urging the government to set up a comprehensive
accounting system for the funds, to clarify which aid funds are
still in the form of pledges from donors and which have actually
been disbursed.

"The system should also be applied in the government's
planning for the reconstruction period, which should be handled
by the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas)," Anwar
said.

State Minister of National Development Planning Sri Mulyani
Indrawati affirmed that her office would be in charge of the
reconstruction period, and was still working out a blueprint for
it.

"We expect to complete it by mid-March, which will include
social development aspects as well as infrastructure development
projects," she said, affirming as well that the reconstruction
program would require funds amounting to between Rp 35 and Rp 40
trillion.