Some 60 percent of 1,200 businesspeople surveyed by Transparency International Indonesia said corruption was not an important issue.
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Kompas/Alif Ichwan
A widescreen monitor presents data from the Corruption Perception Index 2017, released by graft watchdog Transparency International Indonesia on Wednesday (22/11) in Jakarta. The index, which surveys 12 major cities, reveals that Bandung suffered the highest losses from bribery at 10.8 percent of total production costs, while Makassar suffered the lowest losses from bribery at 1.8 percent of production costs.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Some 60 percent of 1,200 businesspeople surveyed by corruption watchdog Transparency International Indonesia (TII) said corruption was not an important issue. This attitude is said to be the biggest hurdle in the nation’s corruption eradication efforts according to TII’s 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). The government should be concerned.
TII revealed its 2017 CPI survey involving businesspeople in 12 major cities across Indonesia in Jakarta on Wednesday. Surveyed cities, based on their CPI rank from top to bottom, were North Jakarta, Pontianak, Pekanbaru, Balikpapan, Banjarmasin, Padang, Manado, Surabaya, Semarang, Bandung, Makassar and Medan.
The average CPI in the 12 cities was 60.8, with North Jakarta at top spot with a CPI of 73.9. Pontianak and Surabaya took second and third place respectively, with CPIs of 66.5 and 61.4. Cities with CPIs below average, ranging from 37.4 to 58.9 were Semarang, Bandung, Makassar and Medan.
The survey highlighted respondents’ perception that corruption was not seen as an important issue. Nevertheless, 17 percent of respondents said they had suffered because of competitors’ bribes.
TII research department manager Wawan Sujatmiko said this statement from 17 percent of respondents was an important reminder for the government as it highlighted the prevalence of bribery in regional governments both in cities and regencies.
“The private sector, the public and the government should actively eradicate corruption. The central government should issue strict laws so that regional administrations can improve their systems and avoid corruption,” Wawan said.
Presidential Staff Office expert Bimo Wijayanto and National Development Planning Agency minister’s expert staff on government’s institutions Diani Sadiawati said they acknowledged TII’s 2017 CPI survey result.
Bimo said if the survey results were correct in determining the obstacles of corruption eradication efforts, then corruption eradication had been nothing more than empty talk. This will be a collective task for all ministries and governmental institutions in establishing an effective corruption eradication system.
Field findings
Bimo said Presidential Staff Office field findings were not much different from TII’s CPI survey. He said the common enemy of corruption prevention and eradication, namely bribery in goods and services procurement across regional administrations, still persists. However, each region has specific problems that need to be tackled.
In Medan, for instance, there are cases of bribes in student admissions despite the city’s online student admission system. The government’s e-planning and e-budgeting systems have yet to be effective in preventing corruption in many regions due to a lack of adequate electricity supply and internet connection.
“Thus far, we have yet to find a solution to resolve specific issues in corruption eradication in the regions,” Bimo said.
However, he added, the government still had hope in resolving these problems. A revision of Presidential Regulation No. 55/2012 will make the National Strategy on Corruption Prevention and Eradication (PPK) 2012-2025 more focused. The government will establish a Joint Secretariat on Corruption Prevention and Eradication at the Corruption Eradication Commission and will earmark Rp 12 billion (US$888,000) to fund it.
Meanwhile, Diani said after Presidential Regulation No. 55/2012 was issued, the government established a PPK secretariat at the National Development Planning Agency. However, the organization has not been effective as it involved many parties without KPK engagement.
“The previous KPK leadership refused to join as they saw KPK as an independent body. Only the current KPK leadership has been willing to be involved,” she said.
