Sri Mulyani Called Corruption Can Be Contagious, Such As COVID-19, Sindir Edhy Prabowo And Juliari Batubara?

Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani Indrawati. (Photo: Ministry of Finance)

JAKARTA - Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani said that efforts to eradicate corruption are a collective effort that must be carried out massively and continuously. Starting from one's own integrity, then organizational integrity, with the aim of forming a culture of integrity in the country's culture.

"This is the responsibility of all of us. Because of a corruption virus, a virus that compromises integrity, just like COVID-19, it can be contagious and it can endanger institutions," he said, in Jakarta, Thursday, December 10.

Previously, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Edhy Prabowo for corruption in the export of lobster seeds. Then the Minister of Social Affairs Juliari Batubara was also arrested by the KPK, due to corruption in the provision of social assistance (bansos) for handling COVID-19 at the Ministry of Social Affairs in 2020.

The country's treasurer said that the COVID-19 pandemic that has hit the entire world affects Indonesian people at various levels. The government also took extraordinary steps to carry out the handling of COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery (PC-PEN) simultaneously by allocating a budget of Rp.695.2 trillion from the 2020 FY State Budget.

"The system becomes extraordinarily important and that has to be the newest, but we often don't have that luxury. So from the start of planning we know that inside we respond to a compelling crisis, a crisis, we have to be very agile, nimble, we have to be flexible, we obviously have to hurry, "he said.

Not only that, said Sri Mulyani, the implementation of PC-PEN had to be fast, right on target, efficient and on time. In terms of budget execution, it must be prudent, accountable, and avoid moral hazard.

However, said Sri Mulyani, once in an atmosphere of very urgent planning, which is clearly not ideal and perfect, one must be aware of the possible weaknesses of the plans that have been made.

"We have to work hastily, quickly, in an emergency situation, there are other threats, namely the threat of corruption. Threats of people who commit acts of corruption or even use weaknesses or imperfections in the system for personal gain," he said.

In its implementation, this policy of course must receive extra protection and high integrity. Not only that, support from the community is very much needed so that government policies can successfully restore conditions caused by the pandemic, or even be able to become Indonesia's moment in accelerating change and innovation.

"Of course there will be imperfections in the implementation in the field and must be guarded together so that no one takes advantage of the gap," he said.

As a precautionary measure, especially for the PC-PEN program that involves various ministries / agencies as well as local governments, the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) always establishes a synergy to prevent corruption with Law Enforcement Officials (APH), namely the Police, the Attorney General's Office and the KPK.

"The Ministry of Finance in the design of the National Economic Recovery collaborates, coordinates, and synergizes with the KPK, the Attorney General's Office and the Indonesian Police. We also use internal control system apparatus and the BPKP," he said.

Not only that, according to Sri Mulyani, the entire internal control system is optimized, which can be seen concretely in the collaboration between the Inspector General of the Ministry of Finance and all the Inspector General of the Ministry of Institutions.

"Apart from that, we are also working with various parties conducting surveys and research to assess whether our programs hit the mark. This is where the test of integrity becomes very important," he said.