Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) plans to investigate the disbursements of general and special allocation funds by local government administrations, following reports that many region heads keep the funds in their personal bank accounts.
"The KPK plans to hold unannounced inspections at local government administrative offices to check on the allocations of local funds, including municipality funds, regency funds and provincial funds," KPK deputy chief Mochammad Jasin told reporters Monday after a press conference on the Assessment of the 2010 Anti-Corruption Initiatives.
Every year, the central government distributes two kinds of funds to support regions in developing infrastructure projects. Although Indonesia has implemented regional autonomy, regions are still dependent on general allocation and special allocation funds.
In its 2010 revised budget of Rp 1.126 trillion (US$124.9 million), the government provides Rp 203.6 trillion for general allocations and Rp 21.1 trillion for special allocations.
In comparison, of the estimated total state budget of Rp 983.2 trillion in 2009, about 30 percent or Rp 303.1 trillion, was allocated for regions. According to Jasin, misallocations of both types of funds occurred frequently.
"The KPK has found many irregularities in the management of the central government's funds by local administrations," he said, adding that regional corruption cases handled by the KPK also had covered such budget violations.
"We will study the disbursements of the funds, including the procedures and methods. We will also look into procurement procedures," he said. Jasin said such inspections would warn local administrations not to misuse the funds. "We will look into whether they use the funds for personal benefit or not," he said.
Jasin added that the commission would cooperate with the Home Ministry and the Development and Finance Surveillance Agency (BPKP) in conducting its inspections, which it said would commence as soon as possible. He added that his office had received a report from the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) that some such funds had been distributed to personal accounts.
On Saturday, PPATK chairman Yunus Husein said that many heads of local administrations kept local allocation funds in their personal bank accounts.
"We received around 1,500 reports that private bank accounts were used to keep general allocation funds and special allocation funds," Yunus said during a seminar on State Officials' Illicit Enrichment, "There are indications of misuse of these funds." Yunus said that his office had been receiving such reports for a long time. "Currently, I believe my office is receiving around 40 reports daily," he added.
According to Yunus, PPATK reports such irregularities to law enforcement institutions, including the KPK. He said many of these funds were also distributed to the personal accounts of officials' spouses and children. "Funds flow to their families' accounts; this is wrong," he said.
The KPK has put in place a mechanism to monitor state officials' assets, including those working within local administrations, through the state wealth disclosure program. Government officials, including those from state-owned enterprises, are required to disclose their assets before, during and after their appointment.
Jasin lamented that the KPK could not punish officials if they failed to disclose their assets. Based on Law No. 30/2002 on the Corruption Eradication Commission and Law No. 28/1999 on Good Governance, the KPK has the authority to only impose administrative penalties in this matter.
"The KPK also has another mechanism to promote anticorruption and good governance which is called the Assessment of Anticorruption Initiatives. But it is voluntary," Jasin said.
The program, which covers government institution units, including those located in the regions, and local administrations, assesses the moral value and ethics of officials in relation to the good governance of each unit. It also assesses the transparency of procurement procedures; transparency in governance; public access to information; and promotion of anticorruption policies. (ipa)