RPT-INTERVIEW-Indonesian graft-buster sees a decade of work
03 Jul 2008 00:55:44 GMT Source: Reuters
(Repeats earlier story with no changes) By Telly Nathalia and Muhamad Al-Azhari JAKARTA, July 2 (Reuters) - Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission chief, Antasari Azhar, expects the agency to be kept busy for at least the next five to 10 years, creating a "climate of fear" in a bid to keep public officials honest. Indonesia regularly ranks among the most corrupt in the world -- on a par with Russia, and just a bit better than Nigeria -- a deterrent to foreign investment and impediment to growth. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who promised to tackle graft when elected in 2004 and who is heading for elections next year, has been criticised for making slow progress on the issue. But in the past year, the commission's graft-busters have announced a flurry of new investigations, detaining officials from several leading public bodies including the central bank, attorney-general's office, parliament, and customs department. Given the number of new cases emerging on a weekly, if not daily, basis, Azhar's agency, known in Indonesia as KPK, still has lots more work. "Don't dream that we can change Indonesia by tomorrow, or in one year. I think this could take five to 10 years," Azhar, 55, who took over as head of the KPK at the end of last year, told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. Azhar said his officers are now setting their sights on the natural resources sector, including oil, gas, mining and plantations, as conflicting regulations arising from decentralisation and new legislation have led to disputes and the potential for pay-offs. "There is the autonomous region law, environment law, mining law. Everyone is wrestling for the authority to do the licencing. This indeed disadvantages investors," Azhar said. "It doesn't mean that we will disturb what those people have been doing. But still, we will give as much chance as possible for domestic or foreign investors to put their money in Indonesia." CULT STATUS Last month, the World Bank praised Indonesia's progress in reducing corruption. But even some of the successes have met with difficulties, showing how tough the fight against graft can be. Yudhoyono's Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati shook up the customs and tax departments, which were notorious for corrupt practices. She fired some officials, put in new bosses, raised salaries, and introduced new monitoring systems. Earlier this year, Indrawati turned to the KPK, asking it to raid the customs department, where it found a total of 500 million rupiah ($54,000) in cash, allegedly from bribes. "The president, whenever he gets a chance, he always gives his support to KPK," Azhar said, adding that the government never interferes with the KPK's work. The KPK, which began operations in 2003, has already started to acquire something of a cult status. Journalists and TV crews camp outside its offices for hours in hope of catching a glimpse or shot of the latest official called in for questioning. Its staff follow suspects under cover, sometimes catching them red-handed with wads of cash stuffed into their briefcases, and tap phone calls between suspects. Copies of the juiciest tapped phone conversations, where suspects discuss their financial remuneration, have even been turned into ring tones for mobile phone users. In the past six months, the KPK's staff of 500 has recovered about 500 billion rupiah ($54 million) in cash from corruption cases. "If you just look at the cash we have recovered, we are not talking about trillions of rupiah. But if we measure it by how much money we have been able to save from potential corrupt practices, well that's invaluable," said Azhar, a former director in the attorney-general's office. "Now everyone says the KPK is scary. Well let it be like that. We cannot have obedience without creating a climate of fear." ($1=9,220 rupiah) (Writing by Sara Webb; Editing by Sugita Katyal and Jerry Norton)
Villagers carry drinking water that was collected from a well in Giritirto village, near Indonesia's ancient city of Yogyakarta July 1, 2008. The dry season has hit parts of central Java ...
