Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – While currently drafting a government regulation on lawful interception, the Information and Communications Ministry has been included on a list of institutions with the highest rates of graft, a survey has found.
The survey, conducted by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), also included the National Police on the list. The survey was held between April and September 2009 and covered 371 service units across 98 institutions.
"We surveyed 11,413 respondents who were direct users of services in the institutions," KPK deputy chairman for prevention, M. Jasin said Tuesday.
The survey ranked institutions on a scale of 1-10, with 1 as a measure of the most corrupt.
The survey found that services most prone to corrupt practices included the police issuance and extension of driving licenses, passport services at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, procurement processes at the Information and Communications Ministry, and the Public Housing Ministry.
Services that were considered graft-free included social aid programs at the Coordinating Public Welfare Ministry, procurement processes at the Agriculture Ministry, university accreditation at the State Accreditation Agency and services provided by state shipping company PT Pelni.
Jasin said the police scored the lowest with 4.6, followed by the Industry Ministry with 5, while the Information and Communications Ministry scored 5.6. "Starting this year we have set the standard for integrity at 6," he said.
Institutions with scores higher than the minimum included the Agriculture Ministry, PT Pos Indonesia, PT Pertamina, the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), PT Jamsostek, the State Accreditation Agency, PT Kawasan Berikat Nusantara, PT Angkasa Pura II, PT Pelni, the National Education Ministry, PT PGN, the National Authority for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Overseas Workers (BNP2TKI), the Coordinating Public Welfare Ministry, PT KAI and PT Asuransi Jasa Raharja.
The survey also recorded South Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, DKI Jakarta, North Sumatra and Lampung as having provincial administrations with the lowest integrity.
East Java, South Kalimantan, West Java, East Kalimantan and Bali were identified as the areas with the most accountable administrations.
Jasin said this year the average national integrity score was 6.5, lower than last year's score of 6.84. However, he said, this was due to changes in the scoring mechanism and not because of a reduction in corrupt practises.
Transparency International Indonesia (TII) launched a similar survey earlier this year revealing that bribery occurred in about half of all transactions between residents and police officers, making the police the most corrupt institution in the country.
In the TII survey, held between September and December last year involving 11,520 transactions at 15 institutions, the customs and excise office ranked second-worse with 41 percent of 423 transactions settled with bribes.
The third-worst ranking went to the immigration office where bribery practices accounted for 34 percent of 363 transactions. The TII survey found the average going rate for bribes with police was Rp 2.2 million (US$231.82).