Tony Sitathan, Jakarta – When Indonesia's national monument to independence, the Monas, underwent a major renovation project recently, another national hallmark – bureaucratic corruption – had no such overhaul. In fact, according to an official at Jakarta City Hall in an exclusive interview with Asia Times Online, half the contracted cost of the Monas project went into the pockets of bureaucrats.
When the coordinating minister for the economy, Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, revealed recently that the Indonesian government was facing budget constraints but promised continued improvement in price stability, infrastructure and security, it gave a clear signal to the investment community as well as local business people that the government was indeed concerned about the state of the economy.
The minister also pointed out that improving confidence in the economy was not only the job of the central government but also of regional government, business people and the general public. "All parties must do their best and work toward building up a good synergy so as to not hinder the country's efforts to continue to develop the economy," he said. He gave examples of the stable rupiah and low inflation rates as results of a successful macroeconomic stabilization policy.
He made this announcement just days before Singapore Technologies Telemedia (STT) won the final bid for the government's 41.9 percent stake in state-owned telecommunications company PT Indosat. This was seen as a positive signal that his macroeconomic pump-priming exercise was indeed creating stability in the economy.
Despite such promising results and optimism, the Indonesian bureaucracy and its self-serving public servants leave much to be desired. Indonesia has gained notoriety as one of the top five countries in the world when in comes to corruption. According to a recent report by International Corruption Watch, Indonesia's corruption level is still high despite the many overtures by the government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri to present itself as squeaky clean.
Budi Koesnanto (not his real name), a support staffer working with the Jakarta city council, braved the heat to give an exclusive account of the inner workings of city hall to Asia Times Online. Jakarta city council is responsible for the overall upkeep and maintenance of the capital city. Budi's department handles projects worth more than Rp5 billion (about US$568,000). He maintains that those in charge of these projects directly receive the customary "gift" of an envelope stuffed with Rp100,000 bills before the projects are given to the select few companies that win building or maintenance contracts. "It can range from Rp5 million to Rp25 million depending on the size of the contract awarded or the higher the hierarchy of the person," he revealed.
The most recent project was the one completed on Monas, the national symbol of independence of Indonesia. There was a complete facelift to the theme park that houses the Monas, with new fencing and a cleaner and greener park. There was also an increase in security personnel. The total project fee for the overhaul was estimated at close to half a trillion rupiah (more than $50 million). "Nearly half or more of that amount never actually reached the contractors or the people in charge of the actual program. Much of it was siphoned off or contractors were giving kickbacks after the normal procedure of over-invoicing on supplies," Budi said.
Even the building and maintenance of highways and roads, the granting of permits for food stalls and renewing the licenses of government certified contractors come under the office's auspices. Although Budi could not say the money trail goes all the way up to the newly elected Jakarta governor himself or the council members, he felt that almost nothing was done to stamp out such blatant corruption. "There is not one organized body for the prevention of white-collar crime. Although there are certain departments much like Internal Affairs within the Police Department, nothing ever gets reported or published in the papers," he said.
It is not a surprise that while one public servant within the department takes the Metro Mini, the public bus transportation system, to work, another drives his Honda Accord or Mitsubishi Spacewagon. Similarly one may take his family to have a meal in the roadside stalls on the outskirts of Block M Plaza while another tucks into Korean or Japanese food in the choice Kemang district dominated by foreigners.
Such social inequalities could be blamed on either the social injustice inherent in Indonesia or, more likely, on those who are enterprising enough to take the risks of being corrupt. But since there is hardly any risk at all in being caught for corruption, and since almost everyone in influence and power is already likely to be tainted with corruption, who can be counted to enforce the general standards of civil servants?
Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, in his most recent visit to Indonesia, suggested to his counterparts that there would be a kind of training program for selected Indonesian civil servants in Singapore that would eventually assist Indonesia once they return to their country. But such a program would be a small drop in the ocean when it comes to dealing with civil-service corruption.
Andre Sunardi, a social activist and sociology professor at the University of TriSakti, says it is almost impossible to eliminate corruption overnight. "Unless there are strict laws and punishment for crime is made more severe, only then will corruption be eliminated," he said. Sunardi said a good measure of the problem is not the amount of money being embezzled but the influence corrupt civil servants have on their fellow men and the community they serve. "But many failed to realize this especially in countries like Indonesia where wealth is equated with power and power equated with success. Anything that gets in the way of success is deemed immaterial," he said.
Unfortunately, however, civil servants like Budi Koesnanto, who are willing to speak the truth undaunted by the fear of being silenced or forced into early retirement, are rare indeed.