'I don't care' about graft report: Minister

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Government officials appeared indifferent when responding to a survey by Transparency International Indonesia (TII), which ranked Jakarta and the customs office most corrupt institutions.

"I don't care," was the simple response of Minister of Finance Yusuf Anwar, who oversees the customs service, on Thursday when commenting on the survey findings.

Meanwhile, Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso said that the fact that his feif was the most corrupt city "makes sense".

Speaking at the State Palace, Yusuf said, "Just let it go. I don't care. All I care about are the improvements in governance and oversight that are taking place. It is more important to try to make an effort instead of trying to make the headlines." He added, "The public do not see our efforts, but things are improving.

"TII can say what it likes as it is only looking for headlines," he added.

Apart from the customs service, the finance ministry also oversees the tax service, which is named as the eleventh most corrupt institution in TII's list.

Yusuf claimed that the amount of state funds lost to corruption was very small, pointing out that the issue was "exaggerated by certain parties".

Citing an example, he said only 2 percent of the country's three million taxpayers evaded paying taxes last year.

"The claim that 40 percent of the country's tax revenues are embezzled is 'bullshit'," Yusuf said, referring to median estimates of state losses in the tax and customs services made by observers. "We have done a lot in trying to create accountable and transparent systems in the tax and customs services."

"The director of the taxation service has dismissed six officials so far this year for corruption. We have also improved our supervision over the customs office at Tanjung Priok port," he added.

The 2004 Indonesian Corruption Perception Index survey, conducted between last October and December with 1,305 business owners and top managers of local and multinational firms as respondents, revealed that the customs service had the highest incidence of corrupt interactions at 62 percent.

Some 140 respondents said they had to pay bribes to the customs service approximately 31 times per year, with each bribe averaging Rp 38 million (US4,086).

Sutiyoso, meanwhile, said that with over 70 percent of the country's economic transactions taking place in the capital city, so "it makes sense that most corruption cases took place here".

The survey, he argued, was not about corruption "within the city administration".

Sutiyoso also believed that the survey might have selected the wrong respondents.

"Take the city public works agency as an example. With hundreds of projects being put out to tender, many businessmen fail to win contracts. If they were to respond to the survey, of course they will accuse the tender winners of bribery."

The governor, who will end his second term in 2007, believed that his administration could curb corruption by cooperating with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in setting up a mail box for the public to file complaints as well as establishing a regional ombudsman.

The responses of the two officials were regretted by TII board of directors member Todung Mulya Lubis.

"Those comments show the government's arrogance. They should have been ashamed (with the survey findings) instead of getting angry," he said. "The report reflects the business community's perceptions on corruption. The government should have reflected on its performance."

The noted lawyer reminded the government that the business community had yet to see any of the changes promised by the new government, including a renewed fight against corruption, the resolving of high-profile disputes involving foreign investors, improved legal certainty and attracting more investment.