WB urges RI officials to declare all their assets

WB urges RI officials to declare all their assets

JAKARTA (JP): The World Bank is urging the Indonesian
government to require all its major officials to declare their
assets and prohibit conflicts of interest in decision making as
part of a concerted campaign to stamp out corruption.

Following a week-long study in September on the problem of
malfeasance in the country, the bank also recommended that the
government should protect whistle-blowers on graft practices from
legal intimidation.

"The government also needs to guarantee the freedom of
information that makes all government actions open to the public
unless there is a reason for secrecy," added the bank,
Indonesia's largest multilateral creditor.

The recommendations are stipulated in an aide-memoire made by
World Bank Director for Social Policy in the East Asia and the
Pacific Region Katherine Marshall, who headed the fact-finding
mission from Sept. 13 to Sept. 20. A report summary was released
on Thursday.

Under fire over the last few months for allegedly turning a
blind eye to corruption in its Indonesian projects, the World
Bank assigned the team to assess the problem of corruption and to
assist in working out an effective anticorruption strategy.

"Without fundamental soundness and freedom of corruption of
government programs, the continued support of the World Bank and
international community cannot be guaranteed."

The team found a broad consensus in the government and society
that corruption, both public and private, is systemic, widespread
and deeply embedded.

"Among the most immediate issues is a well-developed system of
shared payments for public services, institutionalized in a
system in which official salaries are generally too low to live
on," Marshall noted in the summary of her report to the
Indonesian government.

She emphasized that her team had no capacity nor mandate to
evaluate allegations on corruption, or to assess quantitatively
the scale of corruption or the losses entailed.

The World Bank and the international community have mobilized
about US$14 billion in aid to Indonesia over the next two years
to help it weather its worst economic crisis in 30 years. In
addition, the International Monetary Fund has committed $11.3
billion for the 1997 to 1999 period.

The 10-member team met with officials and the representatives
of non-governmental organizations, donor agencies and governments
and public communities as well as businesspeople in trying to
gain a fuller understanding of the complexities of corruption.

The mission determined that the credibility of the government
in the eyes of investors and the public has diminished, with a
sense that government actions may differ from stated policy.

"In numerous areas, both the reality and perception is that
citizens encounter corrupt practices in their daily transactions
with the public services," the report noted.

The World Bank considers an effective anticorruption drive as
most crucial now in the face of the economic and social crisis
because the problem could become much worse in the period ahead.

The mission paid special attention to safeguarding the social
safety net programs for the estimated 80 million people living
below the poverty line. The programs are mostly funded by
international donors, including the World Bank with a commitment
of $3 billion.

It recommended that a special independent anticorruption
committee be set up to monitor the implementation of the poverty
alleviation programs.

"The negative impact, both on the Indonesian society and donor
community, of even the perception of corruption in the massive
antipoverty programs would be enormous," the team warned.

Although acknowledging the important measures already taken by
the government in recent months to address the corruption
problem, the bank noted that the strategic framework remains weak
and a solid national consensus both on broad approaches and
specific action measures has yet to emerge.

It stressed the urgent need to define and advance a national
anticorruption strategy, recommending that a national governance
reform task force or commission be set up with broad-based
representation of all elements of society.

The team said that in the long term the creation of a more
effective and corruption free public sector requires addressing a
complex set of interrelated problems.

It cited structural problems of limited transparency in
setting budget priorities, weak audit arrangements, poorly
structured budget, low-paid civil service, minor capacity for
taxation, inadequate management controls, and the weak legal and
judicial system. (vin)