Govt fails to control aid for NGOs

Govt fails to control aid for NGOs

JAKARTA (JP): The government has admitted defeat in its drive
to control the flow of foreign aid to local non-governmental
organizations, including those critical of state policies.

Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono said yesterday the
assistance cannot be controlled because the money is transferred
to the personal accounts of NGO activists.

"The government's supervision has proven ineffective," he told
a hearing on domestic political affairs with members of the House
of Representatives Commission II.

Moerdiono said checking individual NGO activists' bank account
would be impossible because this would require complicated
bureaucratic procedures, such as approval from the Minister of
Finance.

A number of House members, mostly from the ruling Golkar
party, urged the government to tighten its control over foreign
assistance for NGOs and separatist rebels.

Legislator Enny Busiri from the Golkar faction warned that the
government should be especially wary of foreign assistance for
rebels in Irian Jaya.

Indonesia has about 4,000 registered non-governmental
organizations but the government puts the actual number at around
11,000.

The government suspects that some NGOs may have been used by
their foreign donors for anti-Indonesia propaganda in
international forums.

In 1994, the government was infuriated by activists of the
International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID) who
gave critical views on Jakarta's policies at a conference in
Paris.

Moerdiono said the government is able to control any technical
aid provided to local NGOs through the state secretariat. This
assistance is provided by donors grouped in the Consultative
Group on Indonesia.

In the 1996/97 fiscal year, the state secretariat made
available Rp 3.2 billion (US$1.4 million) in assistance to three
non-governmental organizations. The Red Cross will receive Rp 276
million, the Indonesian Science Academy Rp 1.3 billion and the
National Commission on Human Rights Rp 1.5 billion.

Commission members also received a general account from
Moerdiono on the controversial leakage to the press of
Development Inspector General Kentot Harseno's report to the
President on alleged corruption involving Transportation Minister
Haryanto Dhanutirto.

Haryanto was accused late last year of having misappropriated
$9 million in state funds, largely for his own personal
interests. He was absolved of the allegation by President
Soeharto.

Moerdiono said the government was still finding out who had
leaked these classified documents but added that his legal
experts are divided on whether those multiplying and distributing
copies could also be charged.

Under an Indonesian law of 1971, anyone leaking classified
documents is liable to 10-20 years imprisonment.

"The results of the investigation can't be expected to come
out soon. The public has to be patient because it involves
delicate processes," he said.

Since Soeharto cleared Haryanto of the charges, Moerdiono has
been the target of a campaign spearheaded by activists of the
Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI) aimed at
finding out who leaked the papers.

Moerdiono is understood to have a rivalry with ICMI chairman
B.J. Habibie, who is also the State Minister of Research and
Technology.

"The whole issue has been blown out of proportion and wildly
misinterpreted," he said. He explained his issue without
mentioning any names.

Discussing clean government, Moerdiono said the government has
not taken a stand on the renewed calls for bureaucrats to declare
their wealth before and after holding a position.

The call for officials to declare their wealth, which has
received support from four cabinet ministers, was renewed
following the Haryanto affair. (pan)