Government says Aceh funds used in context of emergency

Government says Aceh funds used in context of emergency

Rendi A. Witular and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Criticism aired by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) that the relief
effort in the tsunami-stricken province of Aceh had "too many
chiefs" thereby making the audit of the humanitarian relief funds
difficult received a defensive response from Vice President Jusuf
Kalla.

Kalla argued that the situation in Aceh was an emergency and
the government had taken the necessary actions to ensure that
reconstruction efforts were in progress.

"It should be understood that the accountability of the
financial aid is shared by different ministries and agencies
because of the emergency situation," he told a press conference
on Friday.

"I hope everyone can make a distinction between actions taken
in an emergency situation and under normal conditions."

Kalla promised that the government would be transparent and
demonstrate good governance in managing the funds, including
conducting an open tender for reconstruction projects in the near
future.

The BPK also blamed the National Disaster Coordinating Body
(Bakornas PBP) for its poor coordination making it difficult to
conduct an audit on the funds since the latter refused to serve
as a supervisor of the funds.

But Kalla defended Bakornas, saying the body was only tasked
with coordinating all the government institutions involved in the
relief effort, while each of the institutions had the right to
disburse their own funds.

"There is a misunderstanding here. The funds are not managed
by Bakornas. For example, logistics is handled by the State
Logistics Agency (Bulog) while road construction by the Ministry
of Public Works. Therefore, the audit should be conducted on such
agencies," he said.

The BPK claimed on Thursday it was facing difficulties in
auditing the use of the funds due to the presence of more than
one authority in charge of the funds. The agency said the Office
of the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, the military
and Aceh provincial administration had used the aid without
proper coordination.

The BPK has so far recorded over Rp 40 trillion (US$4.33
billion) in aid funds distributed in Aceh. The funds consisted of
some Rp 39 trillion from foreign donors, Rp 163.9 billion from
state enterprises and Rp 894.38 billion from the public.

Worse still, BPK said, the financial report on the use of the
humanitarian funds was not made in accordance with the existing
accounting standards, making it more difficult for the agency to
conduct a proper audit on the funds.

The BPK fears that the poor management of the funds will
undermine the already low confidence of the international
community in the accountability of the government in disbursing
financial aid to Aceh.

Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi said the government had urged
all supervisory agencies to be active in supervising the use of
the funds in response to BPK's findings.

"The President has called all parties to follow up the BPK
report and that the disbursement of the aid will be placed under
one roof once the government implements the Aceh reconstruction
blueprint," he said.