Jakarta – The active role played by civil society has helped reveal corruption in many local administrations, and to progressively reduce the number of such cases, according to a study conducted by the World Bank's Justice for the Poor Program.

"While decentralization has provided greater opportunities for more complex types of corruption, it also has provided new opportunities for combating corruption," World Bank economist William Wallace said Tuesday in a media statement.

Taufik Rinaldi, the main author of the study, said civil society had become active in curbing corruption, as shown by a rapid increase in the number of non-governmental organizations and media outlets.

"Local civil society, when acting together, can play a significant role in combating corruption, uncovering incidences of corruption and bringing the perpetrators to court," he said.

The World Bank carried out the study in five provinces – West Sumatra, West Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, East Java and West Nusa Tenggara – and focused on 10 major cases of graft involving local councillors and administration officials.

The study found that 29 provincial prosecutor's offices around the country handled some 265 corruption cases involving 1,000 local councillors in 2006, while district prosecutors offices at the regency and municipality levels prosecuted 46 corruption cases, with 61 local administration officials being put on trial.

Corruption in the country's local legislatures frequently involved grants to fictitious organizations, phony business trips and budget mark-ups, the study found. Meanwhile, corruption in local government agencies often involved deviations from the set spending procedures and procurement irregularities.

The study also discovered that many of those raising allegations of corruption were acting spontaneously, often lacking the knowledge and stamina needed to see the cases through to the end.