Irregularities found in WB-funded projects
Irregularities found in WB-funded projects
JAKARTA (JP): A joint investigation by the World Bank and the
Ministry of Education and Culture has found deficiencies and
irregularities in the construction of a number of World Bank-
financed schools, an official said here on Friday.
The "irregularities" were found in junior high school
buildings recently completed in East Java and West Sumatra.
World Bank Country Director for Indonesia Dennis de Tray said
the discovery was made during a regular World Bank supervisory
inspection, the results of which were later confirmed by a local
engineer invited by the Bank's supervision team.
"It is unfortunate that at the very time Indonesia needs to
make sure all children are provided with school places, we are
presented with a situation that requires the closure of new
schools because they were poorly constructed," de Tray said.
Separately, Basilius Bengoteku, the World Bank's education
officer, said the supervisory inspection in August found that out
of 41 schools built in East Java with World Bank funds in the
1997/1988 financial year, 18 were found to be either incomplete
or substandard.
"Out of the 18 buildings, four were declared unsafe," he told
The Jakarta Post.
According to a joint press statement released by the bank and
the ministry, local officials signed off the construction as
complete and one-hundred percent satisfactory.
In West Sumatra, the Ministry of Education and Culture found
some contractors had handled funds incorrectly and that some
schools had not been completed to the specifications of the
contracts.
"We are very concerned because the schools were built from a
World Bank loan and the state budget to provide education
facilities in rural and remote areas," Basilius said.
"One of the schools in East Java, for instance, does not have
a satisfactory drainage system. If it rains, a landslide could
occur," he added.
He said that last year the World Bank financed construction of
182 junior high school buildings in the provinces of East Java,
Central Java, East Nusa Tenggara, Central Kalimantan, West
Kalimantan, Aceh, Jambi, Lampung, West Sumatra and South Sumatra.
He said similar malfeasance might also have occurred in
connection with schools built in the other provinces.
The ministry and the World Bank have launched immediate
inspections and engineering analysis to check the quality of
buildings in the other provinces.
Each school building is worth Rp 300 million to Rp 400
million, Basilius said.
"One way or the other the buildings must be repaired. The
students will be temporarily moved to neighboring schools while
the repair work is being done," he said.
"We can't afford to put the children in danger, but their
studies must not be interrupted," Basilius added.
"The projects were being run by the provincial administration,
so they must be responsible for this too," he said.
Director General of Primary and Secondary Education Indra
Djati Sidi has warned all provincial authorities that
construction contracts must be awarded transparently and
completed according to acceptable specifications.
"We are determined to ensure that the schools are repaired
quickly and we will also improve our management system, including
the way construction of new school buildings is supervised,"
Indra said in a statement. (edt)