Wealth declarations must be verified, say experts
Wealth declarations must be verified, say experts
JAKARTA (JP): Experts see the announcement of public servants'
wealth as a good start in fighting corruption, but say it will
take time before any effect is seen.
Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association chairman
Hendardi said on Saturday that announcing official's wealth would
be useless unless it was followed by investigation.
"If it is aimed at fighting corruption, there should be a
follow up like an investigation to find evidence (of the
accuracy)," he told The Jakarta Post over the phone.
"If not, what's the use of announcing someone's wealth?" he
added.
Hendardi was referring to an announcement made by the Public
Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN) last Wednesday.
The commission presented a list of assets of 47 public
servants, including President Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice
President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
The list was based on forms which the public servants filled
out.
Megawati and her husband, legislator Taufik Kiemas, topped the
list with total assets of Rp 59.809 billion (US$5.4 million).
The assets include cash, land, buildings, vehicles and eight
gas stations.
Meanwhile, Abdurrahman ranks number eight with total assets of
some Rp 3.5 billion.
Almost half of the assets, or some Rp 1.722 billion, are
precious stones and metals, art and antiques which Abdurrahman
said he was given from 1999, when he was elected president, to
2000.
According to Hendardi, assets in the form of gifts is
questionable and can lead to an investigation.
"The President received the gifts in the first year of his
presidency. It is questionable," he said.
Meanwhile, legal expert Harkristuti Harkrisnowo from
University of Indonesia said that the President's wealth was
relatively small.
"The point is, it's what the commission got and we don't see
the details so we don't know about the accuracy," she told the
Post.
The commission, she added, should publicly announce what it
does with the list.
Furthermore, Harkristuti said that there was nothing much that
could be done in regard to the list.
"Next year when the commission shows the list of public
servants' wealth, we can do something. We'll see if there are any
surprising increases in wealth," she said.
Separately, a legal sociologist from Semarang's University of
Diponegoro, Satjipto Rahardjo, said that government officials'
wealth should have been announced before they were appointed.
"There are more political aspects in the announcement of
wealth," he said without elaborating.
Satjipto said that the commission should consist of
professional accountants so that it would be easy for them to
cross-check the list.
Similar to Satjipto, Harkristuti questioned the capability of
the commission as it was made up of people who passed a fit-and-
proper test set by the House of Representatives. As they are not
professional, the public should not expect too much from them,
she said.
Hendardi criticized the composition of the commission, saying
it was designed simply to satisfy political parties by putting
their people on the commission.
As for the rest of the officials who have yet to return the
forms to the commission, Hendardi said that it proved that the
will to fight corruption, collusion and nepotism was still low.
Many officials, including House Speaker Akbar Tandjung and
People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais, have not
returned their forms listing their assets, saying that they are
still in recess. Some have complained that it takes time to fill
out the form while others claim they received their forms late
due to technical matters.
"When it comes to their own wealth, they are still reluctant,"
Hendardi said.
Harkristuti said that the officials should be given more time.
"If they haven't submitted it by now, then it should be
announced publicly so that they are embarrassed. That is, if they
still can feel embarrassment," she said.(hdn)