Sanctions await officials involved in test fraud

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab said on Thursday that officials involved in fraud during the civil service recruitment examination would face harsh penalties, including dismissal.

Briefing the media before meeting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono here, Alwi said that the government found 20 cases of irregularities across the country, including bribery and cheating during the recruitment test.

Over 4.5 million people joined the civil service recruitment examination on Wednesday, the first ever to be held simultaneously across the country by all the recruiting agencies, to fill over 204,000 vacancies in various government institutions.

"So far we've identified 20 cases, including common practices such as bribing officials in charge of the recruitment test," said Alwi, adding that the violations were committed not only by participants but also by officials in charge of the test.

"I know it has been easy money for officials who can get around Rp 20 million to facilitate the admission of certain people, but this practice should not continue," the minister said.

Alwi also disclosed that some participants paid other people to do the test for them.

"We will also cancel the admission of these people," he said.

For many Indonesians, becoming a civil servant is a dream job, especially if they are assigned in big cities, where they could earn extra income.

Meanwhile, in Southeast Sulawesi, participants in the civil service recruitment examination took to the streets in Kendari on Thursday to protest the local government's decision to declare the test invalid.

"The annulment has made us suffer, therefore we demand an explanation from the government," said Edi, one of the protesters.

The test committee did not explain why they had to annul the test results, but Edi suspected that it was due to irregularities during the test.

The test in South Sulawesi was scheduled at 9 a.m. local time, but it did not start until around 2 p.m.. Many participants were still struggling to answer the test by early evening.

In Cirebon, West Java, Majalengka Police interrogated two people who took the test amid rumors that the test questions had been leaked.

"The two were still being treated as witnesses," said head of the Majalengka Police, Sr. Comr. Iis Raesih on Thursday.

The two had reportedly said they saw some papers with answers being distributed during the test. Iis said more people may be summoned for interrogation.

In Samarinda, East Kalimantan, a blind woman, Alexia Netty, joined the test. She was assisted by two friends, one who read the questions for her and the other who filled out her answers on the answer sheet.

"It was difficult for me to concentrate," said Alexia, one of the 6,379 people who joined the test in Samarinda.