FIGHT AGAINST ILLEGAL LEVIES AS PART OF BUREAUCRATIC REFORM by Fardah

  Jakarta, Oct 19, 2016 (Antara) - Illegal levies, whether they involve a large amount of money or a very small one, are all targeted in a fight against illegal levies, initiated by the Indonesian authorities as part of bureaucratic reform.

        Such an indiscriminate measure is in accordance with an instruction provided by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) who has reiterated his resolution to fight every illegal levy, even when it involves merely Rp10 thousand (less than US$1).  
    Jokowi said the efforts to eradicate illegal levies were launched, so that people would have peace of mind and services in government offices would proceed well at a faster pace.

          He reiterated his assurance that Indonesia would be free of illegal levies in driving license, ID, land certification and other licensing services.

          "Illegal levies must be stopped. People must only pay the official ones. If they have to pay Rp50 thousand officially, they have to do it. But if it is free, they must never be ordered to pay," he said.    
    Jokowi also pointed out that he would check, control and monitor the issue to assure that public services would proceed well and would be free from illegal levies, even small ones.

          The government has set up a team of "Saber Pungli" (cleanly sweep illegal levies) to effectively fight the issue.

          According to Wiranto, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, the majority of members of the task force would be drafted from the National Police.

            The task force will also introduce an online service for filing complaints regarding such malpractices.

          Besides, the Administrative and Bureaucratic Reforms Minister Asman Abnur has issued a circular directing that the malpractice of illegal levies be stopped immediately.

           The circular, which came as a follow up to the president's instructions, was addressed to the Working Cabinet Ministers, the Indonesian Military chief, the National Police chief, the Attorney General, heads of government agencies and institutions, governors, district heads and mayors.

           Every head of government agencies are asked to strictly implement the directions and put in place measures to eradicate illegal levies.

          In addition, the minister urged the Government's Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) chief to coordinate with the Internal Government Apparatus Supervision Agency (APIP), various ministries, agencies and local governments to combat illegal levies.

           The minister also called on the government leaders to develop an online service delivery system to reduce such malpractices.

            Furthermore, he urged public service providers to ensure open access to the public to such services and transparency in their functioning as per service standards and requirements.

           The names of those found guilty of charging illegal levies would be announced publicly to deter others from indulging in such malpractices.

           The minister disclosed that he would put in place a whistleblower system to prevent illegal levies.

        Bureaucratic reform has been a priority of the government in order to improve bureaucratic accountability and enhanced public services.

           Lauding the measures, Deputy Chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Laode M Syarif said illegal levies are rampant in almost all government agencies in the country.

        Sharing information with the police task force will also strengthen the synergy between the two law enforcement agencies, he said.

            He also congratulated the police for the success in uncovering the long practice of illegal levies at the Transport Ministry recently.

           The Jakarta police investigators had named three suspects after the raid and charged them with accepting illegal fees for business licenses in the marine sector.

           The police confiscated around Rp90 million and bank accounts worth Rp1.2 billion from the suspects, all low-ranking civil servants.  
   Bambang Haryo Soekartono, a member of the House of Representatives' Commission VI, has praised the government's efforts to eliminate illegal levies.

         "We should laud the president's efforts to eradicate illegal levies. The president inspected the search operation at the Ministry of Transportation's premises. All sectors need to be cleansed of such malpractices," Bambang Haryo Soekartono remarked.

          Bambang underscored that the process of certification of vessels should be simplified to prevent such malpractices.

           "Over a long period, overlapping regulations came into effect in sea transportation. As a result, the economic costs have increased," he underlined.

        Another support came from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) that has encouraged the government to continue the operation aimed at ending the malpractice of illegal levies.

         "The success of the operation to eradicate the menace of illegal levies will help improve the public services," MUI chairman Ma'ruf Amin said.

          Malpractices such as illegal levies were only imposing an economic burden on the people.

            "Officials found guilty of receiving illegal levies clearly did not bear good moral values," he affirmed.

          In the meantime, the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) has recommend the use of an online business clearance system to diminish the possibility of illegal levies.

             "Corruption has become the number one challenge for our competitiveness. The government needs to cooperate with private entities to reduce the clearance process chain," said the Head of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, Rosan Roeslani.

          Rosan said he believes the current technology available is very capable of facilitating an online clearance system, which will ease the process, and at the same time prevent illegal levies and corruption activities from taking place.

             "There are 90 million people using the internet at the moment, and 340 million use cell phones. This shows just how familiar people are with technology. The only challenge we are facing is to shift the mindset," he reiterated.

             An online-based clearance system, he continued, will continuously suppress the possibility of illegal levies, ultimately leading to an increase in the competitiveness index in the country.

              In the meantime, the Police Headquarters revealed that as many as 235 cases of illegal levies registered across Indonesia, from July 17 to October 17 involved police officers.

             Out of the 235 cases, 160 cases involved traffic policemen, 26 cases involved officers of the criminal investigation affairs, 39 cases involved officers in charge of security maintenance and 10 cases involved intelligence officers , Senior Commissioner Martinus Sitompul, a spokesman of the National Police, said  in Jakarta, on Oct. 18.

             Thirty cases involved Jakarta Metro Jaya police officers, 19 cases involved West Java police officers, 19 cases involved North Sumatra police officers, 14 cases involved Central Java policemen and 13 cases involved Lampung policemen.

           Sitompul, however, claimed that he did not have the data on the total number of police officers involved in all the 235 cases.

            "The police officers in the 235 cases were caught red-handed. We have found that 140 cases involved disciplinary violations, 83 cases involved ethic code violations and 12 cases involved criminal provisions," he said.       
   Respective regional police offices are now investigating the cases and would impose sanctions on the officers involved.

      (f001/INE)
19-10-2016 13:08:37