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)