Solok regent, activist receive Bung Hatta award

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Solok regent Gamawan Fauzi and Padang-based activist Saldi Isra, both from West Sumatra, have been named recipients of the prestigious Bung Hatta Award, which is intended to recognize those involved in the fight against corruption.

The recipients outshone 25 other candidates, the award committee said here Friday. Bung Hatta, one of the nation's founding fathers whose anti-corruption stance is legendary, became the first vice president of the country in 1945.

The winners are selected based on personal qualities showing a high commitment to the fight against corruption, the actions they have taken to eradicate corruption, and the impact of their actions on corruption, said Betti Alisyahbana, who headed the four-member jury. The award will be bestowed on the recipients on Sept. 28 here.

"This year, the BHACA was looking for people whose work against corruption produced improvements in the places where they live," she told a press conference referring to the two-year old Bung Hatta Anticorruption Award Organization.

Last year's winners included Karaniya Dharmasaputra, the managing editor of Tempo weekly news magazine, Erry Riyana Hardjapamengkas, former president director of PT Timah Tbk and current deputy chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission, the late Mohammad Yamin, the former director of the Attorney General's Office's training and education center, and Syamsul Qomar, a judge of the Langsa District Court in East Aceh, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

Gamawan, who has been in his post since 1995, was selected because "of his honesty and probity, which is reflected through his refusal to increase non-budgetary funds for the local council so as to avoid setting a bad precedent for the future, his consistently modest lifestyle and the fact that he has no record of corruption or alleged corruption", Betti said.

The other three jurors this year were PT Caltex Pacific commissioner Humajunbosha Somiadiredja, senior journalist Atmakusumah Astraatmaja and legal activist Bambang Widjojanto.

Gamawan was also credited for taking firm action against members of his staff who were involved in corruption, his readiness to sign the Transparency International Indonesia- sponsored integrity pact -- the only regent who did so -- his consistency in implementing and advocating clean governance, his move to cut red-tape so as to improve public service, and his initiative in slimming down the bureaucracy in his regency's finance department.

"His actions have imbued regency officials with pride. They also support his anticorruption drive. The government, too, has awarded Solok for its achievements in improving public service," she said.

Saldi, a constitutional law expert at Andalas University, has been selected for his modest lifestyle and his consistency in uncovering corruption cases in the provincial council since 1999, as well as in other local institutions.

The jury commended Saldi, the coordinator of the West Sumatra Care forum, for his tireless efforts in encouraging public initiatives against corruption. He originally set up the forum to scrutinize the draft provincial budget.

Saldi, whose articles are often published in both local and national newspapers, and the forum he leads have reported alleged corruption cases involving the local council and administration to the home affairs ministry and provincial prosecutor's office, and launched class action suits against suspected corruptors.

"The initiatives by the forum he leads are the achievements of a new social movement. The forum's work played a very important role in the conviction of 43 West Sumatra councillors for corruption. The movement has inspired people in other provinces to do the same," Betti said.