Deti Mega Purnama & Lenny Tristia Tambun, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has announced the city of Jakarta and Governor Joko Widodo as the most progressive province and leader in eradicating corruption in the country.
"The KPK award recognizes the Jakarta administration as the government that reported the most graft cases," commission chairman Abraham Samad said on Tuesday while handing the award to Joko. "Especially for the governor, we really appreciate everything he is doing to help us in our work. We want Jakarta to lead the way in our fight against graft so other provinces can follow the lead."
He did not disclose how many suspected graft cases had been reported by the Jakarta administration, but said it was a "high number" and illustrated the Jakarta administration's commitment to tackling the scourge of corruption.
He added the administration had implemented major bureaucracy reforms, especially for public service posts. "If there is something that can serve as an example for other provinces, it's the initiative to improve public services through open recruitment," Abraham said.
He said there should be a commitment to redefine graft as a very serious crime. "Outside Indonesia it is considered an extraordinary crime, but here in our country it has been perceived as a common thing," he said. "In other countries, public officials found to have benefited through illegal means would not only be prosecuted, but they would have to step down from their post as well."
Joko and his deputy, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, have long declared a war against corruption in Jakarta. Most recently, they promised full accountability in the case of suspected markups for faulty buses procured from China for the TransJakarta line and a supporting network.
The pledge to root out any city officials implicated in the scandal has been widely lauded, given how rampant corruption in public procurement processes – for which the government has allocated more than Rp 400 trillion this year alone – has become, making it the biggest potential sources of corruption.
Joko vowed to bring all corrupt officials to justice, emphasizing the need for stricter monitoring, management control and field inspections as City Hall embarks on a number of high-value projects.
A recent Indonesia Corruption Watch report showed that up to 98.12 percent of the 267 corruption cases reported in the second quarter of 2013 were in regional government institutions, mostly in North Sumatra and East Java. Last year, 35 regional chiefs were arrested in graft scandals.
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/jakarta/kpk-honors-jokos-graftbusting-efforts-in-jakarta/