Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has requested additional prosecutors and investigators following the establishment of three regional antigraft tribunals.
"We are running seriously short of prosecutors and investigators," KPK deputy chief for prevention Haryono Umar told The Jakarta Post on Monday. "This hinders our performance."
Haryono was concerned the commission would fail to deliver at the local level after the Supreme Court established three Corruption Courts in Bandung, Semarang and Surabaya. The three courts are scheduled to begin hearing cases this year.
The KPK will be responsible for deploying its prosecutors from the KPK headquarters in Jakarta whenever there is trial in any of the three local graft courts, he said. "That having been said, additional prosecutors are obviously essential."
The KPK recently announced that it was now eying rampant corruption allegations in the regions. KPK deputy chairman for enforcement Chandra M. Hamzah recently said that his office found that regional budget funds were more likely to be misused by local administrative officials.
"There's an accumulation of state funds in the regions since the government implemented regional autonomy. The funds are more likely to be misused by local administration officials," Chandra said.
The government implemented Indonesia's sweeping regional autonomy program in 1999. More than 30 percent of the state budget has been directly allocated to the regions each year since then.
The central government distributes two kinds of funds to support regions in developing infrastructure projects: general allocation and special allocation funds.
To manage nationwide oversight of such huge budgetary disbursements, the KPK has a total of 638 personnel: 191 people for its enforcement unit; 116 people for its prevention unit; 127 for the information and data management unit; 72 for the Center for Information and Public Complaints (PIPM); and 125 for the secretariat unit. The KPK also has five unit leaders and two advisors.
For comparison, in 2009 KPK had a total 648 personnel, comprising 187 members for the enforcement unit; 122 for the prevention unit; 131 for the information and data unit; 74 for the PIPM; 127 for its secretariat unit; and five leaders and two advisors.
"The KPK needs around another 60 prosecutors, 100 more researchers, including police and auditors, and 100 additional police investigators," Haryono said.
As of Dec. 31, 2010, the KPK has around 35 prosecutors who were transferred from the Attorney General's Office (AGO), 50 investigators from the National Police and around 50 researchers, including those coming from the police, the Development and Finance Surveillance Agency and other law enforcement institutions.
Haryono, who lamented that until this time the AGO and National Police had stationed their personnel is a piecemeal manner, said that his office had already tried to lobby Attorney General Basyrif Arief to approve their request to have more prosecutors.
As for the police, Haryono added the KPK would lobby them as well.
Another KPK deputy chief for prevention, Mochammad Jasin, told the Post that his office would set forth to establish KPK representatives offices in the three areas where new local Corruption Courts have been established.
However, the KPK representative offices will be designated for focus on preventing corruption, before administering justice, Jasin said.
"Representatives' offices will be a place for local officials to report their wealth and any gratuities they may receive," he said, adding that the KPK would also administer its corruption prevention education program in the areas.