President wants urine test for all public officials

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.