Government to revise decree on public procurements
The government is currently in the process of drafting a revised presidential decree on public procurements in an effort to reduce rampant corruption in the bureaucracy that has led to an inordinately high cost of doing business here, Vice President Jusuf Kalla says.
Kalla said the revised decree would include a requirement that tenders for public procurements be announced in a number of newspapers that had earlier won the right to run such announcements in a separate tender.
"All newspapers should participate in the announcements tender. In future, there will be a small number of newspapers that have the right to carry such announcements. This is intended to enable the government to monitor project transparency," he said.
A tender must be held for state projects worth more than Rp 50 million (US$5,555).
According to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), of the 33 cases the commission has handled since 2004, 24 -- or 77 percent -- were related to public procurements and involved numerous government officials at all levels.
Kalla said the revised decree would also stipulate several types of projects for which no tender would be required, including emergency and public interest projects, and those involving official secrets.
The revised decree would also permit the use of electronic procurement, or e-procurement, using the Internet. This would help ensure transparency and accountability.
The KPK had earlier urged all government institutions to adopt e-procurement to help minimize corruption.
E-procurement would allow suppliers and the public at large to access all information on state procurements and to monitor their progress through the Internet.
It would also prevent state officials from marking up costs, forging documents and violating procedures so as to enrich themselves. -- JP
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