House Of Representatives Commission VIII: ACT Case Like Iceberg Phenomenon, Ministry Of Social Affairs Must Build New Supervision For Philanthropic Institutions

Illustration of Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT) charity foundation. (Between)

JAKARTA - The Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) stated that there were 176 findings suspected of misappropriating funds similar to Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT).

The findings have been reported to the Minister of Social Affairs (Mensos) Tri Rismaharini in the form of a document. PPATK also submitted related documents to the Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim).

Responding to this, Member of Commission VIII of the DPR from the PKB faction, MF Nurhuda Yusro, called the ACT case like an iceberg phenomenon.

"From the start, PKB said, the ACT case was like an iceberg. It looks big, but in fact there are so many things that are not revealed," said Nurhuda, Friday, August 5.

According to him, the steps taken by the Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) to cooperate with PPATK to oversee philanthropic institutions are appropriate. He said, the Ministry of Social Affairs should not just give permission, but should have the authority to check.

"There must be cooperation with other parties. Partnerships with PPATK are an important part to do because they must be checked, is the Ministry of Social Affairs a sufficient institution to grant permits without having the authority to investigate details? If they do not have the authority, it will be slow," he said.

Meanwhile, Member of Commission VIII of the DPR PDIP Fraction, Diah Pitaloka, said that ACT-like problems had occurred since Risma took office, even 10 years ago.

"This is not only a problem with the Ministry of Social Affairs, but it has been going on for a long time. So it wasn't during the time of Mrs. Risma (Social Minister Tri Rismaharini), before either. So it accumulated, maybe more than 10 years," Diah Pitaloka told reporters, Friday, August 5.

According to the PDIP politician, the Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) must build a new monitoring system for philanthropic institutions. Because Diah said, the current system must be evaluated.

"Was it monitored? The secretariat, where the distribution goes, there should be an audit mechanism and there should be sanctions if for example problems are found. This institution must build a monitoring system," he said.

Diah also reminded that philanthropic institutions must be transparent. According to him, the amount of money collected and its distribution should be known to the public.

"First, accountability is made transparent. Second, the public must know where it is channeled, if it is open, it can be monitored. The Ministry of Social Affairs can determine whether this institution is credible or not, from reports that are open to the public," he said.

Diah also suggested that the Ministry of Social Affairs create a special division to oversee philanthropic institutions. However, he reminded that there should be no practice of corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN) in the supervision of the philanthropic institution.

"We hope that the Ministry of Social Affairs builds a division to monitor, indeed people are afraid because it becomes a super power institution. The results of the monitoring are reported to the public. If we monitor people's diseases, KKN will happen again. Don't let it happen again," he said.