Integrity building

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 10/24/2007 4:17 PM  |  Opinion

As part of good corporate governance, the signing of an Integrity Pact in the office of state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina on Oct. 9 has shown us the willingness of this company's management to abide by the existing laws.

Pertamina's step in signing such a pact was the latest, after the three other state-owned firms (out of the more than 100) and one state-owned bank, followed by five private firms.

Of the 30 ministries in the country, only four have signed the pact, followed by the head of the House of Representatives' Honor Council, a deputy speaker of People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) and a small number of House members.

Other state-owned and private firms, state-owned banks, ministries, legislative and judicial institutions are still waiting for the ""right time"" to sign the pact, meaning, they are still unwilling or half-hearted about practicing good governance and eradicating corruption.

The objectives of the pact are to prevent institutions from practicing corruption, collusion and nepotism; improve work performance and institutions' credibility; and to create a healthy and conducive workplace.

The Integrity Pact's ultimate aim is building integrity in government institutions, businesses and civil society, with the commitment of making themselves free of corruption.

By implementing such a pact, all segments of society, be they in the government (executive, legislative and judicial) or business, will ingrain in their heart a strong integrity, leaving the country free of corruption, collusion and nepotism.

People will, step by step, not see and find reports of graft probes, illegal bank accounts, budget mafia, budget malfeasance, illegal logging, mining and fishing, etc., in the media, all of which has made the country and its people virtual pariahs in global investment surveys.

However, taking into account the very small number of state institutions and businesses that have signed the pact, we are not fully optimistic that corruption will go away from Indonesia in the immediate future.

Therefore campaigns to sign and implement the Integrity Pact should stringently be pushed by all segments of society, including the government.

M. RUSDI
Jakarta

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