RI bureaucracy quite corrupt, says BPKP
Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Reacting to the rampant corruption in the bureaucracy, the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) has brought 734 corruption cases involving Rp 5.17 trillion (about US$5 million) to the Attorney General's Office for prosecution.
"The corruption cases were uncovered in 26 ministries and other government institutions before September last year," Feisal Tamin, the State Minister for Administrative Reform, said on Monday during a meeting of senior government officials.
"The government will not sit on these cases, especially those that cost the state financially, because that would ruin our image," he said.
The highest number of cases was found in the Ministry of Home Affairs, where 213 corruption cases were uncovered. This was followed by the Ministry of Finance with 56 cases and the Office of the State Minister for Cooperatives, Small and Medium Enterprises with 53 cases, he said.
In terms of money involved, the Office of the State Minister for State Enterprises was the worst offender with over Rp 2.11 trillion, followed by the Ministry of Finance with Rp 2.08 trillion and local governments with Rp 220 billion, he said.
Feisal said bringing the cases to the Attorney General's Office and monitoring their handling was part of the government's response to the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), which reported 1,264 irregularities involving Rp 29.04 trillion at central government institutions between the years 2000 and 2002
He said his office regularly requested and examined follow-up reports from the institutions involved, and only two of them -- the Office of the State Minister for State Enterprises and the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT)-- failed to submit the reports.
"I am going to meet with both ministers responsible for the institutions and insist they submit reports," Feisal said.
Also during the meeting on Monday, officials discussed complaints and reports of irregularities in government institutions mailed in by the public.
Of 4,605 complaints received, only 2,766 were processed because the others did not contain clear identification, Feisal said.
"We are looking forward to more reports from the public regarding the performance of government institutions and any irregularities, and we will process them as long as the complaints are objective and have clear identification," he said.
Of the letters that were processed, the institution receiving the most complaints was the Ministry of Home Affairs, with most complaints related to corruption, followed by the National Police (judicial cases) and the Ministry of National Education (complaints about discrimination in hiring), he said.
Among the country's provincial governments, Jakarta, East Java and North Sumatra were at the top of the list when it came to receiving public complaints, he said.