Radical reform necessary to curb corruption: Report
Radical reform necessary to curb corruption: Report
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Radical reform of the Indonesian administration and
bureaucracy is imperative to help curb endemic corruption among
civil servants, an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report has said.
The bank's Country Governance Assessment Report said rampant
corruption among civil servants was made possible by poor
management at all levels of administration, as well as by a lack
of transparency in recruitment and promotion, and by bribes being
paid for appointments.
The government demonstrated its preference for an open
recruitment system last year by holding simultaneous nation-wide
civil service recruitment tests for 204,584 positions to minimize
the possibility of bribery.
However, Law No. 43/1999 on Civil Servants, and Government
Regulation No. 25/2002 on Jurisdiction of the Central Government
and Provinces allows for closed recruitment, which leads to
opportunities for bribery.
It is an open secret that applicants for government positions
usually have to pay money to get accepted.
The report said that there were anecdotal indications that
suggested that the level of corruption in appointments and
promotions was significant. Promotions were often given to the
highest bidder, with higher payments being required for entry
into "lucrative" jobs.
"The trade in positions serves three illicit purposes. The
person paying the bribe is assured a job with rewards that cannot
be expected from basic salaries and allowances. For the persons
accepting the bribe, it provides some income," the report said.
"It also guarantees personal loyalty to the patron under whom
this operation works and thus enforces allegiance in maintaining
corrupt practices and assuring secrecy."
A source at the Office of the State Minister of Culture and
Tourism confirmed that bribing of National Civil Service Board
(BKN) officials took place very often.
"Civil servants do it to expedite the administration process,"
said the man, who has served 18 years as a civil servant.
The source also confirmed the subjectivity of appraisals
conducted by superiors in each department, where arbitrary likes
and dislikes prevailed.
The report also found that the policy of maintaining low basic
salary levels plus various types of allowances, made civil
servants look for other avenues to obtain income.
"I've been working for almost two decades but my basic salary
is only Rp 1.2 million. Therefore, I'm counting on money from
projects to increase my income," said the source.
The ADB report said that annual performance assessments of
civil servants did not evaluate performance based on targets and
objectives, but as a means to extend rewards.
In conclusion, the ADB suggested that radical reforms be made,
among other things by seeing to it that all actions taken by
civil servants have a basis in law, that they be accountable to
their superiors, and that effective accountability mechanisms be
put in place. (006)