KPK urges reform in bureaucracy

KPK urges reform in bureaucracy

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) urged the
government on Friday to speed up the reform drive in the
country's bureaucracy to stop civil servants from charging
illegal fees.

In a meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla, KPK chairman
Taufiequrrahman Ruki and KPK senior member Erry Riyana
Hardjapamekas made several recommendations on ways in which the
government could reform the bureaucracy.

"It is better to prevent extortion from occurring than to
prosecute (people) for it, because the KPK and other law
enforcers are currently facing limited resources to investigate
and litigate corruption cases," Taufiequrrahman said.

Among the recommendations put forward by the KPK were ways to
increase civil servants' salaries so they were closer to KPK
officials' basic salaries of between Rp 700,000 (US$72) and Rp 42
million a month.

KPK officials are also given housing, health and
transportation allowances.

At present, the lowest salary for a civil servant is about Rp
500,000 for a university graduate, and the highest is about Rp 7
million for an echelon I official or for a four-star military or
police general.

Raising civil servants' salaries by just Rp 100,000 would cost
the government more than Rp 10 trillion a year.

Widespread corruption in the country has often been blamed on
civil servants' low salaries.

Taufiequrrahman said to reduce red tape and wipe out the
practice of seeking illegal fees, the government needed to issue
guidelines on the issuance of documents and licenses by public
servants.

The guidelines would specify the requirements, cost and
processing time for the completion of each document.

Erry advised that civil servants who failed to comply with the
guidelines be sanctioned.

"This system would encourage them to work harder and with
seriousness. It would also prevent them from collecting illegal
fees," said Erry.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged when he took power
last year to fight corruption. Nine months have passed, yet the
public has seen little improvement in civil servants' behavior.

Bureaucrats in the immigration office, religious affairs
ministry, police and subdistrict offices continue to extort money
from the people.

"Our recommendations are not an appeal to the government. The
government has an obligation, which it should immediately
fulfill, or efforts to combat corruption and save state money
will not be optimized," said Erry.