Indonesia pledges to keep Aceh relief efforts free of corruption

Indonesia pledges to keep Aceh relief efforts free of corruption

Bhimanto Suwastoyo Agence France-Presse/Banda Aceh

Indonesia on Saturday outlined measures aimed at proving to the world that relief and reconstruction operations in tsunami- devastated Aceh will not fall victim to the widespread corruption that plagues the country.

"Not only you, as donors, are concerned with transparency and accountability, we, as the government, want to demonstrate to the whole world that we are different from the previous governments," Social Welfare Minister Alwi Shihab told a press conference here.

"Let us show our commitment, let us prove that our commitment is true," Shihab, who jointly heads the national disaster relief task force with army chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu, said.

The global community has pledged billions of dollars to the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts for Indonesia's westernmost province, which bore the brunt of the earthquake- generated tsunamis on Dec. 26.

More than 166,000 people have died in Aceh from the disaster.

There have been concerns aired by both local and international groups that aid may not reach its intended target because of endemic corruption that infests all levels of Indonesian society.

Berlin-based graft watchdog Transparency International listed Indonesia in its latest report last year as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

As part of its commitment for transparency, Shihab said the government would publish each month the amount of aid it received and what it had spent to finance relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction programs for Aceh.

The first report will be published on Wednesday, exactly a month after the disaster.

Shihab also said the government and parliament were working to set up a new body, the Authority Board for Aceh, to oversee anti- corruption activities for the conflict-scarred province.

The body will be established as soon as possible, he said, without giving a date. The head of the body will have a ministerial rank and will be directly responsible to the president.

Shihab said non-governmental organizations had also been invited to be a part of the supervisory body.

He said another way to ensure the rehabilitation and reconstruction process would be free of corruption was for the donor country and Indonesian government to jointly select the organizations that will carry out the work.

Donor countries, he said, could also pick, either by tender or appointment, the executing company from a list of contractors approved by the government.

"The government will never object to such a decision. The government wants to see the rehabilitation and reconstruction process as transparent and as open as possible," Shihab said.

However, he added the government's preference was to use companies linked to Aceh so the process would involve the Acehnese.

Shihab said the government was expected to complete a blueprint for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Aceh in the next few weeks that could be used as a reference for donors, but he did not give a specific time frame.

He declined to immediately give figures on the amount of funds the government had received and spent so far, saying that it would be made public in the first monthly report.