Jakarta Globe, Nivell Rayda | September 20, 2010
Jakarta. An antigraft group has lambasted a district head in East Java for spending Rp 2.4 billion ($278,000) on end-of-Ramadan gift packages for his subordinates.
The hampers are traditionally handed out during Idul Fitri, which marks the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, and can contain anything from food to clothes to books.
In August, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) issued orders barring all civil servants from accepting any Idul Fitri gift packages because it feared they could be used as a front for bribes.
On Monday, however, corruption watchdog Transparency International Indonesia reported that Blitar district head Herry Noegroho had spent billions on hampers that he handed out to his subordinates.
TII researcher Ilham Saenong said Herry might have misappropriated district funds to bankroll the stunt.
“As far as we know, the Blitar administration has never allocated funds for buying hampers,” he said at a press conference.
“It’s possible the money came from a contingency fund or from emergency social aid funds.”
The watchdog said it had learned about the purchase after residents complained and sent in pictures of the hampers, which featured a signed greeting card from Herry.
Ilham said Herry might have wanted to boost his re-election chances in the upcoming local election.
“Handing out gifts is one of the most common tactics used by public officials seeking re-election,” he said.
“There are also indications that the purchase of the hampers did not go through a tender.”
By law, government contracts valued at more than Rp 50 million must go through a public tender.
The controversy comes on the heels of a similar move by West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan, who spent more than Rp 1.2 billion on 450,000 Idul Fitri greeting cards and stamps featuring his picture — also unveiled by TII.
“The governor should have spent his own money on the greeting cards instead of using taxpayer money,” TII researcher Putut Aryo Saputro said.
Meanwhile, Indonesia Corruption Watch, another antigraft watchdog, said such practices had been allowed to flourish because of the inaction of the Elections Supervisory Body, which monitors cases of campaign and electoral violations.
“In the run-up to regional elections, you always see the incumbent allocating a lot of money to social aid or other popular programs,” ICW researcher Ibrahim Fahmi Badoh said.
“This is underhanded campaigning and should be stopped. ”
On Monday, TII also said it had proof that civil servants had flouted a KPK order against using their official cars to travel to their hometowns for the holiday.
Ilham said the watchdog had received pictures from the public of Jakarta-registered cars with red license plates marking them out as belonging to state institutions, taken in several Central and East Java towns.
“One such car was even spotted in East Java a whole week after Idul Fitri,” Ilham said.
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