Home Affairs Ministry Prepares Strategy as Many Regions Face Corruption Risks

The Ministry of Home Affairs is collaborating with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to prevent corruption in various regions. Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian explained that there are several corruption-prone areas, including entrusted programmes, misaligned budget aspirations, and projects created without necessity. Other risk points include the procurement of goods and services, unjustified budget shifts, bid rigging, contract splitting, and unreasonable owner estimates (HPS). Further risks involve fictitious work, volume reduction, irregular contract addenda, payments made before work completion, and invalid payment evidence. In civil service management, the buying and selling of positions and transfers based on personal connections are vulnerable areas. Licensing is prone to bribery for acceleration, unofficial levies, and spatial planning interference, alongside tax and levy leakages and database manipulation. For regional assets, regional-owned enterprises (BUMD), and grants, risks include asset control by other parties, utilisation without contribution, affiliate transactions, management and procurement interference, invalid recipients, political interests, and fictitious accountability. To prevent these vulnerabilities, eight areas are being focused on: planning and budgeting, procurement of goods and services, public services, licensing, supervision by internal government supervisory apparatus (APIP), governance, civil service management, and management of regional assets, taxes, levies, and gratuities. Special attention is also being given to the management of regional assets, regional-owned enterprises, regional public service bodies, social assistance grants, budget aspirations (Pokir) of regional councils (DPRD), and village funds. The Ministry of Home Affairs will collaborate with the KPK to provide education to regional heads, their deputies, council chairs, council representatives, regional secretaries, and other regional apparatus. The education will be conducted in 10 regional clusters, with two or three provinces participating in each session, hosted at the governor’s office. The programme is planned to commence next week or in August, starting in East Java and Bali. The activities will focus on the identified corruption-prone areas, with both institutions preparing materials, mapping regions and their risks, providing speakers, and formulating corrective steps for regional governments to implement.