Higher pay won't curb graft: Tamin

Higher pay won't curb graft: Tamin

Petrus Sugiyo
The Jakarta Post
in Jakarta

A debate on the fight against corruption practices has
surfaced again as two ministers and legislators differ in their
concepts on how to eradicate the fraudulent conduct.

State Minister of Administrative Reforms Feisal Tamin said on
Thursday he was among those who distrusted opinions that higher
salaries would curb corruption.

The statement was made one day after his colleague State
Minister of National Development Planning Kwik Kian Gie said
before legislators that higher salaries for government employees
are badly needed to help curb rampant corruption practices.

"The level of salaries has nothing to do with corruption,"
Feisal said at a hearing with the House of Representatives'
Commission II for home affairs.

He said a more important thing than stopping corruption was
how to improve the integrity, commitment and morality of civil
servants. "At the very least, an improvement program must be
carried out for them through education and training," he said.

Separately, several legislators also gave a thumbs down to the
idea raised by Kwik Kian Gie to increase civil servants' salaries
for the sake of corruption elimination. "That idea is not
substantial. We face a problem ourselves in which we only make a
kind of rhetoric in corruption eradication," said Akil Mochtar,
member of the commission from Golkar faction.

Citing as an example reports by the Supreme Audit Agency on
financial irregularities in many offices, Akil said none of the
irregularities was traced. "If there are irregularities, then
logically, there should be suspects. But where are they?"

Data disclosed on Tuesday at a hearing between the Development
Finance Comptroller and Commission IX for finance showed that
2,508 financial irregularities had been found over the last six
months, causing state losses amounting to Rp 2.2 trillion
(US$231.57 million).

He said the idea to raise the salaries of civil servants would
only spark people's anger. "Besides, the salary increase will not
guarantee an effective corruption eradication," he said.

Fellow legislator Suparlan from the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle said a salary hike would not automatically cut
corruption practices because such activities had structurally
been established.

"I think the idea shows that he (Kwik) sees the problem from
only one aspect. There is no need to meet demands for a salary
increase," he said.

Deputy chairman of Commission I Hamdan Zoelva said efforts to
terminate corruption practices must be executed simultaneously.
"It would be better to provide civil servants with more
facilities than to give them a salary increase," he said.

Hamdan said raising the salaries would cause a dilemma because
on the one hand it could be used to curb corruption, but on other
it could cause social jealousy.

Feisal said that his office is currently setting up a standard
reference to evaluate the accountability of civil servants.

Therefore, the public is invited to take part in the
evaluation process, he said. "The performance of the state
apparatus must be monitored jointly, by related offices."

The lack of professionalism, commitment, consistency, honesty
and responsibility of civil servants was to blame for the rampant
practices of corruption, he said.

Akil agreed with the idea to impose a maximum penalty of death
for corrupters, but Hamdan doubted its implementation. "How can
we implement a maximum penalty of death when we never hear judges
sentencing corrupters to life imprisonment?" he asked.