Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – In what could be seen as a consolation prize for the embattled Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the anti-graft body has won an award as one of the most accountable state institutions for the year 2012.
The KPK has won the award, given by the Administrative Reforms Ministry for three consecutive years since 2009. The KPK is one of only three state institutions to have won the "A" or "very good" grade given by the ministry this year. The other two institutions are the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) and the Finance Ministry.
The ministry surveyed 81 state institutions for this year's award. Leaders of the three institutions received the awards from Vice President Boediono in a ceremony held in Jakarta on Wednesday. Boediono said that he was disappointed that only three state institutions received the award.
"I appreciate all of the hard work done by ministries and other state institutions in improving their accountability. But I am not yet satisfied, in the sense that many institutions still do not take the performance accountability report seriously," Boediono said in his speech.
In the event, Boediono also gave awards to six provincial governments that got "B" grades. Provinces that were given the award for their middling performance were Yogyakarta, Central and East Java, South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan and South Sumatra.
Responding to the poor showing, Boediono suggested that the Administrative Reform Ministry implement a reward-and-punishment mechanism to boost the performance of government institutions. "We need to think about giving penalties. Otherwise, people will not take [the performance accountability] seriously," he said.
Administrative Reform Minister Azwar Abubakar said that for the award, state institutions were judged on their performance accountability, a concept slightly different from financial accountability. Under performance accountability, state institutions have to implement planning, budgetary and reporting systems.
"Performance accountability will basically check whether state budget-financed programs are properly implemented and whether the outcomes are in line with the targets according to the plan. This way, we can measure whether taxpayers' funds have been used appropriately or not," Azwar said.
The highest score in the award is "AA", but no institutions have managed to achieve this since 2009. The next ranks are "A", "B", "CC", "C", and "D".
Azwar said he was happy that the total number of institutions being graded "CC" and up had continued to increase since 2009, although, his own ministry had failed to get an "A" grade. The Administrative Reforms Ministry only got a "B" along with 25 other institutions.