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BPK finds embezzlement of local funds worth Rp 1.5t
The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has found more than half of the regencies and municipalities in 10 provinces misappropriated decentralization funds received from the central government
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The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has found more than half of the regencies and municipalities in 10 provinces misappropriated decentralization funds received from the central government.
BPK auditor Syafri Adnan Baharuddin said Wednesday that 45 regencies and municipalities deposited Rp 1.54 trillion (US$169 million) from their decentralization funds at banks with non-official accounts in 2006 and the first semester of 2007, of which Rp 71.18 billion was improperly used.
"Most of those regions are located in the eastern part of Indonesia. I believe that most of the problems were more related to the quality of human resources than the (finance and budgeting) system," he said.
"The (central) government has never differentiated (the system) for western and eastern parts of Indonesia."
The disbursements of the funds, also called balance funds, from the central government to 33 provinces and 210 regencies and municipalities are aimed to support the decentralization of the administrations.
They consist of general allocation funds (DAU) for the regions' basic expenses such as civil servant salaries, special allocation funds (DAK) for specific needs of the regions and profit sharing funds, which are dividends generated from natural resources exploitation.
The 10 provinces where the misappropriations took place are Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, Yogyakarta, Gorontalo, Central Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, North Maluku, West Papua and Papua.
Syafri said a 2005 governmental regulation and a 2004 law on financial balance between the central and regional administrations stipulated that balance funds should be transferred directly from the state treasury to the regional administrations' official bank accounts.
"Each region is allowed to have only one official bank account. For the sake of checks and balances, if it needs to use other accounts, it must get prior approval from the regional legislative council," he said
He added that one regent in Papua had already been questioned by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for allegedly using balance funds improperly.
He said the funds could be considered as having been used improperly if they were spent in contradiction with the regional budget mechanisms and without reports filed to the regional legislative councils.
The total disbursement of balance funds reached Rp 222.13 trillion in 2006 and Rp 106.81 trillion during the first semester of 2007.
Another BPK auditor Novy Pelenkahu said the slow disbursement of balance funds in 2007's first semester was caused by the central government's slowness in distributing DAK and profit sharing funds. (uwi)
