Governor admits to inability to stop rampant corruption

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso has acknowledged that he has not been able to stop rampant corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN) within the city administration, although his five-year term will be complete in late October.

"KKN has developed structurally and culturally, affecting all levels and echelons, from the central government to the regions," Sutiyoso said on Thursday at a plenary session at the City Council building.

He was responding to questions from Council members who expressed their disappointment over his failure to eradicate KKN in all units of the city administration.

The criticism came from at least seven factions in the Council: the United Development Party, the Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the Military/Police, the National Mandate Party, the Diversity in Unity Party and the Unity and Justice Party.

Chairman of Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) Teten Masduki previously alleged that some 35 percent of the city budget had been misappropriated by officials in the city administration.

High-profile corruption cases in the city, which were highlighted by the City Council, included a controversial trip overseas by city officials and legislators, dubbed Ancolgate; the sale of land at former Kemayoran airport in Central Jakarta and compensation for land acquisition at the former Kramat Tunggak red-light district in North Jakarta, which is being developed into a Muslim center.

Sutiyoso also admitted that internal supervision in all units in the city administration had not functioned well, as leaders in those units had failed to do their jobs properly.

He also acknowledged the lack of public participation in supervising activities in the city administration.

In connection with the effort to eradicate corruption, Sutiyoso said he had enforced administrative sanctions against those who had been proved guilty at whatever level of either the administration or city-owned companies.

He did not mention the fact that very few offenses were taken to court.

In his defense against the failure to deal adequately with the flooding, Sutiyoso said that the administration had planned to start construction of the Eastern Flood Canal project early this year, but it did not happen due to financial constraints.

He added that the government had been unable to attract either domestic or foreign investors to participate in the project.