Administrative Governance Must Be Tightened To Suppress Potential Corruption

BPI Danantara (Photo: Bambang E Ros/VOI)

JAKARTA - Legal observer and construction Hardjuno Wiwoho asked the government to tighten the governance of the Investment Management Agency (BPI) Daya Anagata Nusantara (Dantara) in order to suppress potential corruption.

According to him, Danantara has a mandate to manage very large amounts of state assets, but minimal transparency and a weak audit system can open up opportunities for irregularities.

"The keywords are the weakness in the governance of state assets that have the potential to become a field of systemic corruption that harms the people on a large scale," Hardjuno said, quoting Antara.

For this reason, he emphasized that full transparency is a must, where the public must have access to the Danantara asset management report to prevent potential irregularities.

Thus, he continued, public participation in supervising the management of state assets is the key in overseeing the integrity of state finances.

In addition, he added that independent audits conducted regularly by independent institutions are essential to avoid conflicts of interest.

"Academics, investigative journalists, and civil society organizations must be involved in this transparency effort," he said.

Moreover, Hardjuno believes that there are major challenges in the form of potential conflicts of interest in the management of the Danantara, so that without a strong sieve, politicians and various interested parties can easily misuse Danantara's assets for personal or group gains.

According to him, the absence of clear supervision will worsen the situation and make misappropriation of funds increasingly difficult to uncover.

Therefore, he stressed that strict law enforcement is also needed, where severe sanctions for perpetrators of corruption must be tightened.

"Don't let Danantara fall into the hands of politicians who are only looking for personal gain. The state must leave it to professionals who have a clean track record and integrity, with professional audits involving academics and independent experts," said Hardjuno.

Previously, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto emphasized that Indonesian Danantara must be managed with full care, prioritize transparency, and can be audited by anyone.

"Danantara Indonesia untuk itu harus dikelola dengan sebaik-baiknya, dengan sangat hati-hati, dengan sangat transparan, dengan saling mengawasi saling, harus bisa diaudit setiap saat oleh siapapun," ujar Prabowo dalam peluncuran Badan Pengelola Investasi Danantara Indonesia di Istana Kepresidenan, Jakarta, Senin (24/2).

Danantara as the state wealth fund or sovereign wealth fund Indonesia will manage assets worth more than 900 billion US dollars with an initial projected fund of 20 billion US dollars or Rp. 300 trillion, which comes from the efficiency of state spending by 2025.

The funds will be managed to finance 20 national strategic projects (PSN) including nickel, bauxite, copper downstream projects, data center construction, artificial intelligence development, oil refineries, petrochemical factories, food and protein production projects, aquatics, as well as new and renewable energy projects.