Talking About Corruption Prevention, Lili Pintauli: Our Enemy Is Ourselves Who Take Advantage Of Our Position

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairperson of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Lili Pintauli Siregar reminded regional heads in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) to be aware of corruption-prone points. He reminded the officials to realize that the main enemy in preventing corruption is oneself who is often tempted to take advantage of office.

He conveyed this in front of all regional heads in NTT, elements of the NTT Forkompimda, PLN for the Nustra region, Maluku, Papua; and representatives of the Ministry of ATR/BPN for the NTT region at the Aston Kupang Hotel, Monday, October 25.

"Who is our enemy? We ourselves and the people around us are taking advantage of our position," said Lili in a written statement quoted on Tuesday, October 26.

He then explained that many regional heads were actually doing corruption by taking advantage of their positions. At least, there are currently 152 regional heads that have been handled by the KPK from 2004 to March 31, 2021.

"The mode of corruption of regional heads is not far from bribery and gratification in granting permits, buying and selling positions and kickbacks in procurement," said Lili.

To prevent this from happening again, he then asked regional heads to establish regional policies in accordance with the norms, standards, procedures, and criteria set by the central government.

In this way, Lili believes, regional heads can run the wheels of government in an accountable manner and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. In addition, they are also certain to be far from being caught in legal cases if they carry out their duties as well as possible.

In response to this, NTT Deputy Governor Josef Nae Soi said the presence of the KPK to prevent corruption was deemed necessary. Meanwhile, the presence of regional heads on the occasion, he said, was a form of commitment in improving governance in the regions.

"And, the NTT Provincial Government is committed to increasing the achievement of the MCP value," said Josef Nae Soi.