Eradicating Corruption in Regions

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

Mesuji regent Khamami (center) arrives at the office of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in Jakarta, Thursday, (24/1/2019). Khamami was arrested by the KPK in a red-handed operation in connection with an alleged bribery on a project of the public work and people’s housing office of Mesuji regency. Khamami is the 39th regional leader who is arrested in the red-handed operation by the KPK.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Establishing a coordination and supervision network has enabled the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to handle corruption cases more quickly. The regent of Mesuji in Lampung province became the first regional head to be arrested by the KPK in 2019.

The KPK is continuing with its efforts to eradicate corruption in several regions. Its synergy with other law enforcement needs to be intensified to optimize its efforts, as well as determining the priority scale for investigating corruption cases.

Lampung province’s Mesuji regent, Khamami, became the first regional head to be arrested by the KPK this year, when he was named as a suspect on Thursday following a 24-hour interrogation. Khamami allegedly received Rp 1.28 billion (about US$90,405) in bribes through the regency’s infrastructure projects.

In 2018, the KPK arrested 30 people. Of these, 21 were regional heads and were tried for corruption. In addition, three judges, two House of Representatives lawmakers, and a number of government officials and businessmen were also tried for related offences.

Because of the large number of regional heads that were tried for alleged involvement in corruption, the KPK is focusing on investigating corruption in the regions. For example, 40 members of the Malang Legislative Council (DPRD) were arrested following an investigation into a corruption case involving Malang Mayor M. Anton.

KPK Deputy Chair Basaria Pandjaitan acknowledged that the KPK was able to pursue a large number of regional corruption cases partly because of the establishment of its coordination and supervision network in a number of regions. Thus, information on regional cases was more easily obtained and the cases could be handled more quickly.

"In the past, there was no coordination or supervision in the regions. The KPK only received information from the public. So this is a warning for regional heads. They can no longer play around, if they don\'t want to be arrested in a KPK operation," said Basaria.

Pursuing regional cases, continued Basaria, could also lead to uncovering the involvement of other officials in Jakarta. For example, pursuing the case involving the distribution of funds from the revised 2016 State Budget to Kebumen regency, Central Java, eventually led to the arrest of the House deputy speaker, Taufik Kurniawan.

Former KPK leader Indriyanto Seno Adji confirmed that corruption was rampant in a number of regions. This was a side effect of regional autonomy, which transferred authorities and functions from the central government to regional administrations.

However, the KPK should not work alone in investigating regional cases. The KPK needed to work with other law enforcement agencies, such as the police and state prosecutors, who had regional networks and offices.

"Dealing with regional corruption requires a joint law enforcement effort and synergy between the KPK, the National Police and the Attorney General\'s Office," said Indriyanto, who is now a professor of criminal law at Krisnadwipayana University.

Meanwhile, in addition to appreciating the KPK’s many operations, University of Indonesia criminal law lecturer Akhiar Salmi stressed that the KPK must establish a priority scale for case management. Thus, major corruption cases that involved central government officials, including those in law enforcement, should also be pursued.

House Commission III member Nasir Djamil, who represents the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) faction, said that the many arrests the KPK had made showed the anticorruption agency’s serious commitment to continue eradicating corruption in the country.

However, he warned, the large number of arrests the KPK had made did not mean that it could ignore "quality" and solely pursue "quantity". Nasir said this was an important point, because the KPK still had a lot of work to do in thoroughly investigating a number of major corruption cases. "The KPK was formed to target the big fish, not the small fish," he said.

Bribery in infrastructure projects

Khamami is the third regent in Lampung province to be arrested in the past year. Last year, the KPK arrested Central Lampung Regent Mustafa and South Lampung Regent Zainudin Hasan.

The KPK also arrested Tanggamus Regent Bambang Kurniawan after it received reports from several Tanggamus DPRD members on his alleged involvement in paying gratuities in 2016. Before his arrest, Khamami, who had been Mesuji regent since 2012, the Lampung Police had also named him as a criminal suspect in the regional elections in 2017.

Besides Khamami, the KPK also named four other suspects on Thursday: Khamami\'s brother Taufik Hidayat, Mesuji public works and housing agency secretary Wawan Suhendra, PT Jasa Promix Nusantara owner Sibron Azis, and private employee Kardinal.

Khamami reportedly received Rp 1.28 billion in cash from Sibron. The money is believed to be part of a 12 percent “fee” he received for infrastructure projects in Mesuji regency. Basaria said it was possible to develop the case into a money laundering investigation. (IAN/VIO/IDO/REK/AGE/E02)