"From planning to implementing government programs, there is a risk of corruption (to take place). Therefore, supervision must be conducted with full commitment from regional heads," KPK Chairman, Firli Bahuri, stated in Padang on Tuesday.
The series of government programs starts from the planning, ratification, and implementation phases to the evaluation stages.
Based on several cases handled by the commission, bribery could occur during the planning stage as a means to include some programs in the regional budget, as if it was purely the idea of the council. Usually if this practice occurs, the program implementer had been prepared from the start.
During the discussion of programs in the state budget, corrupt practices often occur, Bahuri remarked.
When a decision could be bought
Bahuri stated that bribery often occurred. The Regional House of Representatives would urge the executive to pay if they wished for the regional budget to be ratified.
He urged people to report such sort of cases to the Commission on Corruption Eradication should this happen, and they would follow up or monitor it.
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During the implementation and evaluation stages, there were also gaps for corrupt practices, for which preventive efforts were necessary from early on.
"Heads of regions must (check) their system. If there are weaknesses, they must be resolved, so that there are no more windows for corruption," he stressed.
Governor of West Sumatra Mahyeldi remarked that if there was corruption in the governing body, it would have a severe impact on survival of the wider community apart from impeding the progress of government programs.
Mahyeldi highlighted the West Sumatra provincial government's commitment to preventing corruption. This aligns with the mission of the West Sumatra Provincial Government's 2021-2026 Regional Long-Term Development Plan, which is to pursue clean and accountable governance and public services of good quality.
"We will continue to improve transparency and accountability, simplify work processes and service processes to the community to minimize opportunities for corruption while improving the quality of public services," he remarked.
He cited coordination as the key to the success of eradicating corruption, for which collective efforts from all stakeholders -- such as the government's internal supervisory apparatus, external supervisors, and other government institutions, as well as law enforcement officers -- was deemed necessary to fight against it.
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Translator: Miko Elfisha, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Suharto
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