New statistiscs bill may hurt private researchers

JAKARTA (JP): An economic advisory group criticized a government-sponsored bill on statistics yesterday saying the bill should not control private researchers.

The managing director of the Econit advisory group, Rizal Ramli, said private sector research should not be controlled because the quality and method of research they used was determined by market forces and professional research etiquette.

Rizal said a statistics law should create a conducive atmosphere which encouraged research.

"To do this, the public should be given facilities to conduct research by cutting back unnecessary bureaucratic procedures as much as possible," he said.

According to the bill being deliberated by the House of Representatives, all private companies should get approval from the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) to carry out surveying activities.

Rizal said many articles in the bill also contradicted the objective of the bill which was to encourage research by the public and the government to produce valid statistical data.

"These contradictions occur because there is an ambiguity between the country's, or the people's interest, and the government's interest," he said.

"Controlling information and statistics is not the right way to enter the 21st century when everything will be open and transparent," he said.

In many developed countries, statistics laws oversee the government sector but not the private sector, he said.

Although the bill does not explicitly mention government control, it contains many articles showing that national statistical activities should be steered by the BPS through the standardization of methods, classifications, definitions and other measurements.

Rizal also questioned the need for agencies to report their work to BPS.

"The need to submit a survey synopsis gives the impression BPS wants to know about every survey conducted by the public," he said.

He said the cost, energy and time to comply with this ruling would be significant.

"It would be more useful if the energy and costs went to improving the quality of BPS' statistical data," he said.

Rizal criticized an article requiring surveyors to give the public an "equal opportunity to know about and use statistical information". Violators of this article face a penalty of Rp 25 million (US$10,416) or one month jail.

Rizal said this requirement would become an economic disincentive to private agencies wanting to conduct surveys.

Senior researcher at the Bogor Agricultural University, Professor Sediono MP Tjondronegoro, said researchers were often required to provide statistical data which did not fit the facts.

"I can understand that the government may sometimes feel disadvantaged by independent surveys conducted by non-government or private agencies that tarnish the rosy figures published by the government," he said.

Rizal said it would be better if BPS gave private researchers free access to its raw data.

"This would allow private researchers to make their own calculations and analysis," he said.

The government ordered BPS to draft the bill to ensure the reliability of statistics produced and published in Indonesia.

Observers have said that BPS often issues figures, like inflation and gross domestic product figures, after reaching a consensus with certain government offices. (pwn)