Worsening corruption

The survey findings on corruption which the Center for Study and Development revealed last week may not have come as something new to most of us. Still, by providing empirical validation of what has for long been merely a general assumption, the study has helped to turn the spotlight on the urgency of solving this longstanding problem.

According to the study, nearly 63 percent of the 995 people polled in Jakarta, Surabaya and Medan are of the opinion that corruption has worsened over the past five years, despite repeated calls and campaigns to halt or minimize malfeasance. Furthermore, over 91 percent of respondents believed the government's efforts to eradicate corruption have been unsatisfactory.

No less indicative of the public perception of corruption in the bureaucracy are the following findings: For almost half of the respondents, the first thing that came to mind when asked about corruption was the abuse of public money. Close to 35 percent of respondents associated corruption with the misuse of power and 6.2 percent, perhaps surprisingly low, associated the word with bribery.

For 74 percent of the respondents state supervisory agencies such as the Supreme Audit Board (BPK), the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP), and inspectorate generals in various government departments do not perform their duties properly. As for the main causes of corruption, more than half of the respondents believed "a rotten mentality" to be the root of the problem, with lax law enforcement, low salaries and poor supervision garnering a mere 19 percent, 11.5 percent and 10.1 percent of votes respectively.

The head of the research team, Rustam Ibrahim, remarked that the survey was similar to those conducted by the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd. (PERC), which earlier this year rated Indonesia as "the most corrupt country in the world".

It is very sad that a number of major research findings have place the country on such a low rating and it reflects poorly on both Indonesian officialdom and on Indonesia as a country. That is especially true since the majority of respondents in the most recent survey believed that corruption in Indonesia was not incurable, but that it could only be eradicated if the government was more serious in enforcing the law and senior figures led by setting a good example for their subordinates to follow.

To be fair, corruption is not a phenomenon that belongs exclusively to officialdom. Enough cases can be cited to show that the same "disease" exists in the private sector and in other strata of society too. In Indonesia, however, the government plays such an important role in societal life that here, perhaps more than in other countries, the English saying that "great winds blow from high hills" clearly applies.

Enough essays have been written and discourses held on the phenomenon of corruption and how to eradicate it. The relevant point to be made here is that now, more than ever before, it is important, nay urgent, that this social and communal disease be fought in earnest.

However good the IMF program looks on paper, and however serious our intentions are to follow it in letter and spirit, the full restoration of our economy cannot be effectively accomplished unless corruption is eliminated, or at the very least curtailed to its lowest possible level. Clearly the government will have to take the lead in these efforts. This will not be an easy task, but it is a task that has to be undertaken with a sense of urgency. The results will make it worth our while.