West Java Extortion Saber Task Force Completes 42 Thousand Cases For 6 Years

West Java Governor M. Ridwan Kamil. (ANTARA/HO-West Java Provincial Government Public Relations)

BANDUNG - The West Java Provincial Government together with the Illegal Charge Sweeping Task Force (Satgas Saber Pungli0 for the past six years have completed around 42 thousand extortion cases, which involve approximately 60 thousand perpetrators.

"A total of 42,000 extortion cases were resolved by the West Java Saber Extortion Task Force Team, survived the last six years and 102 cases were revealed by OTT (arrest operation). Everything ended in court," said West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil, quoted by ANTARA, Friday, May 12.

He said the West Java Provincial Government and the Saber Extortion Task Force intensively narrowed the space for extortion by moving quickly and firmly following up on reports from the public. At the same time, the space for the public to report extortion is expanded and facilitated.

Kang Kamil stated that the West Java Saber Pungli Task Force is working intensively in dealing with extortion and this can be seen from the number of cases that have been followed up.

"However, not everything went viral first. So, it is not true that it must go viral first and then follow up. The majority of those that are followed up do not need to go viral first," he said.

Meanwhile, West Java Provincial Inspectorate Inspector Eni Rohyani stated that apart from intensively handling cases of extortion, the West Java Provincial Government and the Saber Pungli Task Force, they continued to strive to improve extortion prevention by building an integrity zone, bureaucratic reform in all work units and digitizing public services to narrow the space for extortion practices.

"In addition, the application of strict sanctions against perpetrators as well as forming a Code of Ethics and the Ethics Violation Handling Council, especially for certain work units that pose a risk to extortion and gratification," he said.

The handling of extortion is also carried out in various ways, such as strengthening prevention by socializing and joint operations when there are public reports about allegations of extortion.

In addition to narrowing the space for extortion practices by strengthening the handling, the West Java Provincial Government and the Saber Extortion Task Force initiated the Saber Extortion Information System (SiBerli) to make it easier for the public to report cases of extortion.

Eni said that all people can access SiBerli through http://www.siberli.jabarprov.go.id/. People who do not have an account must first register, after that they can enter and make a report.

In addition, the public can also track the progress of their report through http://www.siberli.jabarprov.go.id/.

"SiBerli makes it easy for the public to make reports, either through social media, emails, call centers, direct reports, letters or the SiBerli application," said Eni.

According to Eni, the incoming report will be verified by the West Java Pungli Saber Task Force administrator for data clarity and completeness, then followed up according to standard operating procedures for the Saber Extortion Task Force.

"The public has taken advantage of SiBerli, there is even a tendency to use SiBerli sharply in 2023, with the number of complaints through SiBerli reaching 50 percent of the total complaints," he said without specifying the number of complaints.

Reports from the public, continued Eni, are one of the sources of information for the Saber Extortion Task Force. He also ensured that the identity of the reporter was fully protected so that the public could safely submit reports.

"Especially for ASN, there is a room that can be used to submit reports regarding the alleged occurrence of extortion in the environment where they work," he said.

"In this case, the Inspectorate has an obligation to provide protection to Wishleblowers, which are protected not only by law, but also by regional regulations or regional head regulations set by the local government. Protection against Wishleblowers is supervised by the KPK," he explained.

Apart from SiBerli, the West Java Saber Extortion Task Force also initiated mobile posts in the form of service cars operating in certain offices or service places.