ICW Calls for Scrutiny Over ‘Corruption-Prone’ Agriculture Ministry

‘Monitor It Closely’: Indonesia Corruption Watch says the government department is particularly prone to graft

Jakarta Globe, Yustinus Paat, Nov 03, 2014

The Ministry of Agriculture has had a number of graft allegations leveled

against it over the years. (JG Photo/Afriadi Hikmal)

Jakarta. Indonesia’s most prominent corruption watchdog has called for close scrutiny over the “corruption-prone” Ministry of Agriculture, citing its mounting suspected involvements in numerous graft cases.

“We think that the Agriculture Ministry is one of the ministries that must be closely monitored,” Emerson Yuntho, Indonesia Corruption Watch’s legal and justice monitoring coordinator, said on Sunday. “There have been many corruption cases at the Agriculture Ministry; it is prone to corruption.”

The ICW cited a number of corruption cases proven to have involved or allegedly involving the ministry.

The most recent case is a graft-ridden procurement of coffee beans in 2012. Hadi SP, the ministry’s head of the herb and refresher cultivation division, has been named a suspect in the case estimated to cost the state Rp 12 billion ($1 million).

Former agriculture minister Suswono was also allegedly involved in a beef-import graft scandal last year that has sent Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq, a former president of his party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), to 16 years in prison.

Suswono was allegedly in charge of awarding the beef import tenders, although he has yet to be named a suspect in the case.

The ministry was also allegedly involved in another graft case concerning the procurement of seed stock by state-owned company Sang Hyang Seri during the 2008-2012 period.

“Corruption in the Agriculture Ministry have been conducted in two ways, namely bribing the minister or other high-ranking officials at the ministry, or corruption in the procurement of goods and services by marking up or down [the budget figures],” Emerson said.

ICW calls on the new minister, Amran Sulaiman, to focus on being a minister and step down from any positions he currently holds in order to avoid any conflict of interest.

Amran is the president director of the Tiran Group, a Makassar-based diversified business group engaging in agricultural, industry, mining and trade sectors.