The Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK) plans to expand to provinces to better address the high number of corruption complaints currently beyond the agency's reach, says an official.
KPK deputy chief for prevention and enforcement Dedie A. Rachim said the commission would set up branch offices in Medan, Surabaya and Makassar this year.
"We want to move forward rapidly in responding to the increasing reports from the public on corruption in regions, and we plan to open offices in the three big cities," he said in a discussion on the prevention of corrupt acts here Thursday.
The KPK has been much-feared since all graft cases it has investigated have been brought to court, with the public looking to it to handle the bulk of major graft cases left unresolved by the police and the Attorney General's Office (AGO).
The public lost some confidence in the police and the AGO this year when the commission arrested a senior prosecutor who allegedly took a bribe worth US$6,600 from a businesswoman affiliated with a tycoon involved in the Bank Indonesia liquidity credit scam.
The commission has also taken over the unresolved multi-billion-dollar Borang case from the police and the AGO. The case allegedly involved high-powered officials from the government and state-owned PLN.
Many have seen the KPK's unexpected move as a maneuver to win public trust in the commission under the leadership of former senior prosecutor Anshori Azhar.
Under a 2002 revision of the 1999 anti-corruption law, the KPK has its main duty to coordinate with the police and the AGO in investigating corruption cases. It also has authority to take over graft cases involving high-powered public officials and cases worth Rp 1 billion or more.
Dedie revealed the number of corrupt acts reported to the commission has reached 27,000, only 1 percent of which could be followed up due to a lack of evidence and the fact that most took place in outside the capital.
"Of the increasing reports of graft acts, North Sumatra occupies the top rank among provinces," he said.
Hendri, a civil servant at the cooperative office in Binjai, welcomed the KPK's planned office in Medan.
He said he and many other colleagues had been pessimistic of law enforcers underperfoming in the war on corruption.
He cited his own report to the Binjai attorney general's office on a fictitious project worth Rp 6.3 billion two years ago, which had yet to receive a response.
He said he had just reported the case to the KPK with the hopes it could be followed up immediately.
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