President wants urine test for all public officials
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
For President Megawati Soekarnoputri, a clean government does not rest with being free from corruption, collusion and nepotism, but also from drugs.
During a Cabinet meeting on Thursday that focused on combating drugs, Megawati ordered all public servants, including Cabinet ministers, to undergo urine tests to prove they are free from illegal drugs.
National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said after the meeting that Megawati wanted all state officials to act as role models in the movement against drug abuse.
"There should be a strong commitment from the state apparatus...the President expects all the state officials and ministers to make sure that their offices are clean from drugs by conducting urine tests," Da'i said.
However, he did not elaborate on the funding and technicalities of the tests, which will affect around two million public servants.
Each urine test costs around Rp 6,000.
Da'i said the President hoped that the tests could be added to the annual appraisal of public servants' performance.
A doping expert from the National Sports Council, James Tangkudung, suggested that the tests be conducted randomly and without prior notice.
"Traces of light drugs, including shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine), can disappear in three days. It takes even less time to cleanse the body from the drug by drinking large amounts of water or by taking diuretics," he said.
Indonesia has been on the high alert to drug trafficking in the past year and an estimated 3.4 million people, or a quarter of Jakarta's total population, are known to be drug addicts in the country, according to a survey conducted by a consortium of non-governmental organizations last year.
The country has repeatedly handed the death penalty to drug producers and traffickers, Megawati is known to be one of the supporters of capital punishment.
Da'i said that almost 43 percent of Indonesian inmates at the moment have been jailed due to drug-related offenses. The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights is currently building a separate prison for drug offenders in Cirebon, West Java and on Nusa Kambangan island.
The police chief also said that international drug traffickers often lure Indonesian wives or girlfriends to act as their couriers. The latest information reveals that 27 Indonesian women were arrested abroad for drug-related crimes during the past year.
To empower the current National Coordinating Board on Narcotics (BKNN), the government is currently finalizing a presidential decree that will provide the board with more authority in conducting their duties.
"The decree will provide the board the authority to conduct an operation and make arrests. The operation will be conducted jointly with the police narcotics unit, but with an additional budget provided by the board," Da'i said.
He also said that membership of the new board, to be established in the near future, will involve other ministries.