School committee head alleges graft

JAKARTA: Head of the school committee, Soebandrio, at state junior high school SLTP 250, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, filed a report on alleged corruption by the principal with the City Audit Agency (Bawasda).

He was accompanied by Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) staffer Danang Widoyoko.

Soebandrio said the principal could not explain the use of a total of Rp 1.2 billion (US$141,176) of the school budget for the 2002/2003 fiscal year, of which Rp 780 million was derived from the administration while the rest came from parents' contributions.

Soebandrio said that he was asked by the principal to approve a document stating that the parents' contribution was only Rp 50 million. He refused to sign it as the actual amount was higher than stated in the document.

"The principal told me that some parents had not paid the money. I thought something was fishy as the principal refused to reveal their names," he said, adding that the school committee was not involved in budget planning.

Danang expressed disappointment that Bawasda was not taking the matter seriously.

"If Bawasda does not take firm legal action against corruption, especially in education affairs, our national education will be on the brink of devastation," he said. --JP