NGOs skeptical of Aceh aid transparency
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
"Do you believe that the Rp 41 trillion in funds apportioned to finance the rehabilitation and reconstruction of disaster- devastated Aceh and Nias in North Sumatra, will not be embezzled?," an activist with Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) asked when addressing a seminar here on Wednesday.
Ridaya La Ode Ngkowe, manager of ICW's Aceh Monitoring Program, said his organization had found many indications that the government would not be able to maintain transparency and financial accountability in managing the reconstruction funds.
"The reconstruction work is not as easy as it sounds... From the administrative point of view, the human resources' capacity and from past experience, a large amount of the funds will likely leak into pockets of corrupt officials, either in the provinces or in Jakarta.
"The phrases 'good governance', 'civil society' and 'Islamic- style housing areas', as mentioned in the blueprint for Aceh's rebuilding, are too easy for anyone to utter. But it's very difficult to implement them due to rampant corruption in the bureaucracy and government agencies," Ridaya said.
He said that most people lacked confidence that the government could manage such huge amounts of reconstruction funds because the Aceh bureaucracy was proven to be corrupt, as evidenced by Aceh governor Abdullah Puteh who was recently convicted of graft.
Ridaya pointed out that the reconstruction blueprint was very good, but most Acehnese people and non-governmental organizations did not know where it came from, how it was formulated and who was involved in the drafting.
According to Ridaya, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) chief Anwar Nasution laughed at the government's accountability report on the use of Rp 1.2 trillion for emergency relief operations in Aceh immediately after it was ravaged by the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami.
Of the Rp 1.2 trillion in funds, Riyada said, the government spent Rp 400 billion, however chief welfare minister Alwi Shihab failed to submit a detailed report on how the funds were actually used.
"Based on our assessment, 60 percent of the funds leaked into the pockets of corrupt officials in Aceh and Jakarta," Ridaya added.
Mizwar Fuady, coordinator of the Solidarity for Anticorruption Movement in Aceh (Sorak Aceh), similarly blamed a lack of transparency and financial leakage of Aceh funds on poor coordination in aid distribution, and bad public services.
Many donor countries, he said, have expressed skepticism that their donations for Aceh would not be embezzled.
"Donor countries have smelt irregularities in the ongoing construction of temporary shelters that cost between Rp 187 million and Rp 250 million per unit. They are also concerned over the less-than-human conditions in the barracks with most refugees facing shortages of clean water, and they are only given Rp 3,000 per person a day," Mizwar said.
La Ode Ida, deputy chairman of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD), said the bureaucracy and the military, which played a major role in relief aid distribution, were not transparent in the way they worked.
They did not comply with accountability and audit principles when carrying out their tasks, he added.
He said accountability is not just an administrative matter, but also a matter of whether the donation actually reached the intended recipients.
"Donations have come from foreign governments, individuals, groups, and organizations, so they must be accountable to these donors," La Ode added.