Putting a stop to corruption in the regions

By Sapto Waluyo

JAKARTA (JP): The new millennium brings with it both hope and fears. Residents of the provinces have placed much hope in the coming into effect of the regional autonomy laws in January of next year, although they will not actually be implemented until May.

The hope for more evenly spread prosperity is tempered by the fear that money politics and budget leaks will be rampant. The likelihood of corruption in the regions poses such a serious threat that it was even raised at the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) meeting in Tokyo recently. A flood of fresh foreign loans could provide fertile breeding ground for corruption in the regions.

Ironically, a tendency for corruption to become decentralized is now developing in tandem with the resolve to decentralize political and economic power. The Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) has estimated the total amount of funds lost through irregularities in ministries and non-ministerial agencies at Rp 62.35 trillion.

The big five agencies involved in alleged irregularities are: the State Logistics Agency (Rp 3.445 trillion), the state oil company Pertamina (Rp 1.839 trillion), the forestry and plantations ministry (Rp 991 billion), the home affairs ministry (Rp 100 billion) and the finance ministry (Rp 49 billion).

While the biggest irregularities are found in the head offices, the regional offices of these government institutions have no less horrifying records.

The Inspectorate General of the Ministry of Home Affairs has revealed that irregularities between October 1998 and February 1999 have cost a total of Rp 2.6 trillion in state losses. If the BPKP data are to be believed, leaks in the regional offices are three times greater than in government institutions at the central level.

The most serious irregularities in the area of goods and project procurement are found in three provinces: the Jakarta Special Province (Rp 115 billion), East Java (Rp 95 billion) and West Java (Rp 38 billion).

Even higher figures may emerge as the crisis continues to linger on. Within the space of a year, President Abdurrahman Wahid has changed his cabinet line-up twice. It is easy to imagine the amount of money spent on liquidating one ministry or merging some of them.

A minister once jokingly said that to replace the name board and the letter head will take billions of rupiah. Employment insecurity and the seeming ineffectiveness of the government open up greater opportunities for involvement in corruption.

The secretary of the Provincial Inspectorate of Irian Jaya, or West Papua province, Marthinus Ayomi, said bitterly that corruption in his province could well be the worst.

"There is no evidence that development has been carried out for the benefit of the Papua people," he said, adding that, as a matter of fact, in 1999 the development budget allocated to the province stood at Rp 218.5 billion while Rp 183 billion had been provided for the current year. He said the state budget also set aside funds for projects to be undertaken by the central government in the province.

Poverty and backwardness are still endemic, a situation that prompts envy towards migrants among the indigenous people.

An obvious example of corruption, he said, is the construction of the 575-km Wamena-Jayapura road, which began in 1996 and has yet to be completed although some Rp 2 - 5 billion has been forked out each year on the project.

The situation prevailing in Aceh is no less disturbing. The BPKP's Aceh office has uncovered 726 cases of irregularities inflicting losses upon the state worth some Rp 12.916 billion. Luckily, 344 cases have been followed up with Rp 4.205 billion of government funds being recovered. The status of the remaining cases (832 in number and worth Rp 8.711 billion), however, is still unclear. Then there are the illegal Buloggate and Bruneigate funds purportedly designated for the Acehnese but, in fact, destined for the pockets of the political elite.

The question that must answered is why corruption is rife from Sabang and Merauke? One of the reasons must be inadequate internal control by the BPKP and inspectors general.

The multilayered control bureaucracy extending from the center to the regions allows the corruptors to cover their tracks. Tragically, the BPKP apparatus has now been rejected in a number of regions imbued with the spirit of "super-autonomy".

Inability to enforce the law has given rise to "small but all- powerful warlords" in the regions. A number of local business people and officials have threatened corruption-watch non- governmental organizations and critical journalists.

Cases like that which resulted in the 1996 death of Muhammad "Udin" Syafrudin following his investigation of irregularities committed by the Bantul regent continue to occur and a number of media publications have even been found guilty of libel because of their reporting on corruption.

Understandably, many parties have urged that the burden of proof should be reversed in corruption cases so that those siphoning off the state's funds could hide behind the presumption of innocence.

What is most alarming is that new politicians and officials seem adept at practicing the old style. They justify all and every means to get elected and acquire public assets.

In the elections of regional chief executives, as in the case of Medan's mayor or the Jembrana regent, it is self-evident how people's aspirations have been betrayed. The scandal involving the election of the Sukabumi regent must be turned into a lesson for all regional politicians. The case is currently before the court, and is the first ever money politics case to have been prosecuted.

To put a stop to corruption in the regions, an improvement in the quality of regional legislative assembly members is the most important prerequisite. All political parties must be required to inculcate in their members in the regional legislative assemblies the code of conduct of public officials and also mete out harsh sanctions should this code be violated.

Never allow a wild desire for power to destroy the aspiration for clean and transparent government. Otherwise, the main agenda of the reform drive will be undermined.

Non-governmental organizations must develop their institutional capabilities and must not be content with only improving their abilities to carry out investigations and conduct advocacy. More importantly, they must also beef up their integrity so that their activists will never be tempted to abuse the mandate they hold on behalf of the people.

It is no coincidence that the top leadership in this country -- including a number of ministers -- used to be active in non- governmental organizations. At present there are over 70 anti- corruption non-governmental organizations (see Box). A network of public control will leave the corruptors nowhere to hide.

The role of the mass media, including independent local media, as the fourth pillar of democracy is gaining increasing significance. The idealism and professionalism of journalists are at stake because while local media publications are springing up, many commit extortion in the guise of journalism. Some cash in on news reports for personal or group interests.

Of course, the spearhead in the eradication of corruption lies in the hands of the law-enforcement agencies: the police, the prosecutors and the judges.

The public longs to see honest, clean and unswerving law- enforcement agencies. In the absence of legal certainty, "a popular tribunal" and "a popular verdict" will be inevitable.

Based on Law No. 31/1999 on the eradication of corruption, the government is now mulling over the establishment of a Commission for the Eradication of Corruption. This commission would be fully authorized to "establish coordination and undertake supervision, including interrogation, investigation and prosecution" (Article 43) in respect of corruption cases.

It is still being debated as to whether the commission will only have a Jakarta office to handle national-scale corruption or whether regional offices will also be set up to eliminate corruption at the local level.

One must start from the top when one sweeps a stairway, so people say. In the same fashion, to reduce the likelihood of corruption in regional government, leakage in economic centers and in the central government must be stopped. Only in this way will the people in Aceh and Irian jaya be able to enjoy their own natural resources.

The writer is an activist at Indonesian Transparency Community (MTI).