Corruption Hijacks Community Welfare

KOMPAS/ALIF ICHWAN

Suspect Iswahyu Widodo, a judge of the South Jakarta District Court, wears a detainee jacket after being quizzed by investigators of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in Jakarta on Thursday (29/11/2018). Iswahyu and four other people were apprehended in an operation across South Jakarta. Iswahyu is believed to have accepted bribes in connection with a civil case he was handling.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Corruption makes a number of policies be made not for the interest of the people. Reforming the political and government system is needed to get rid of them.

A number of state policies apparently accommodate the interests of corrupt people instead of improving people\'s welfare. Besides harming state finances, it also robs people of the right to enjoy the benefits of development.

According to Kompas research and development records on Sunday (09/12/2018), three provinces with the most corruption cases investigated by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) from 2004 to 2018, namely East Java, West Java and North Sumatra, in 2017 had an Human Development Index (HDI) below the national average. In 2004, the HDI of West Java and North Sumatra was above the national average.

In a number of areas where corruption was found, development activities continue. However, out of 814 corruption cases discovered by the KPK from 2004 up to the present, especially those related to bribery in the procurement of goods and services and budget planning, it was found that some development programs were designed to accommodate bribe providers. Moreover, in a number of cases, the budget is also "devised" to suit the intentions of members of the legislature.

Division

In Malang city, East Java, for example, this year, 41 members of the local council (DPRD) and the mayor, M. Anton, were named corruption suspects by the KPK in connection with the 2015 regional budget revision deliberations. Anton and several contractors are believed to have bribed Malang DPRD members so that the regional budget revision deliberation proceeded smoothly. The private sector was apparently involved in paying bribes for the sake of the continuity of the projects.

In another corruption case implicating former North Sumatra governor GatotPujoNugroho, social assistance funds for the community were paid to fictitious organizations. Gatot also bribed 50 members of the North Sumatra DPRD for the 2009-2014 and 2014-2015 periods, in relation to regional budget deliberations and accountability reports.

In the North Sumatra regional budget approval in 2014, the KPK found a request for project funds to be distributed to all members of the North Sumatra DPRD worth Rp 1 trillion. Eventually, however, they were paid 5 percent of the value of projects, namely Rp 50 billion.

A similar case was found at the central level. A former member of Commission V of the House of Representatives (DPR), DamayantiWisnuPutranti, who was tried in a Maluku and North Maluku infrastructure corruption case in 2016, said there were project allocations for members and leaders of the House. For the House members, the project allocation reached up to Rp 50 billion, while for the faction group leaders it was a maximum of Rp 100 billion. From each project, there was a fee for House members that amounted to 2 to 7 percent of the cost of a project (Kompas, 12/4/2016).

Damayanti, who is currently being detained at Banten\'s Tangerang Class IIB detention center for women and children, explained that the amounts were agreed upon through faction leaders and were then distributed to each House member on each commission, according to project.

House members on each commission together with partners from the government then formulated steps to implement the agreement. Things like technical auctions were also discussed so that the process continued in accordance with procedure, but the results had been engineered.

"Corruption that hijacks policies marginalizes the community in development. Its intention will be lost, defeated by the interests of policy hijackers, who can be in the executive or legislative branch or in the private sector," said the executive director of Regional Autonomy Watch (KPPOD), Robert Endi Jaweng. Corruption that hijacks policies is detrimental to society in two ways. First, it usually involves "fees" paid by the private sector to members of the legislative or executive branches and results in the quality of development, such as infrastructure, being poor. The right of the community to benefit from the infrastructure is ultimately not met.

Furthermore, a lecturer at the School of Economics and Business at Gadjah Mada University, RimawanPradiptyo, reiterated that corruption also made economic inefficiencies. Like a machine, corruption creates leakages, so that despite the large input, the "engine" cannot run optimally. Its further consequences of inefficiencies leads to disparities, inequality and poverty.

Budgeting

Some budget hijacking occurs during the planning stage. In the regions, budget planning has four processes. First, through community input that takes place in stages, starting from the village level. Second, a technocratic process is carried out by regional work units, then the political process through the aspirations of the legislature, as well as national policies that are passed on to the regions. The program is then formulated in the regional government work plan.

According to a professor of public administration at GadjahMada University, WahyudiKumorotomo, the process of hijacking budget policies frequently occurred during the general budget policy determining process (KUA) and the temporary budget priorities and ceiling (PPAS) stage. "Whether the policy is in favor of the public or not can be traced at the KUA and PPAS, then by the proportion of regional budget that is allocated to the public in capital expenditure," he said.

The hijacking of policies starting from this plan cannot be separated from the "supply" of large project proposals. In Jambi province, for example, according to the expert staff member for economic affairs of the Jambi DPRD, Pantun Bukit, in a year the total value of proposed projects could reach Rp 20 trillion, while the Jambi provincial budget was only about Rp 4 trillion. This makes the competition to submit project proposals for the regional budget tight so that the deliberation of the regional budget becomes highly vulnerable to corruption.

"Determination to approve or reject a program is often not based on priority, but depends on who dares lobby with higher bribes," he said. (IAN/NSA/DIA/NIT/GAL)