TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
KPK receives award for website transparency
A civil society group has named the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as the public institution with the most transparent information on its website
Change Size
A
civil society group has named the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as the public institution with the most transparent information on its website.
The Paramadina Public Policy Institute (PPPI) lauded the KPK's website for providing comprehensive information that is very accessible to the public.
'As a law enforcement agency, the KPK is trying to be transparent and make our information accessible to the public [through our website]. This is the best way [to combat corrupt bureaucracy and dubious budgeting],' KPK chairman Abraham Samad said in a written statement as a response to the award.
The award was given to the agency during a ceremony at the Kempinski Hotel in Central Jakarta on Thursday.
The KPK was also praised for the innovative ways it provides information to the public, such as through the KPK radio channel, Kanal KPK, as well as the Anti-Corruption Clearing House (ACCH), a web portal containing data and information on the KPK's efforts to eradicate corruption.
The winners of the competition were chosen after a panel of 20 judges carefully examined the websites of 47 public institutions from Aug. 15 to 17.
Coming in second place was the Finance Ministry, followed by the Health Ministry in third place.
The other institutions making up the list's top 10 were the Industry Ministry, the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), the Communications and Information Ministry, the Coordinating Human Development and Culture Ministry, the Trade Ministry and the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry.
One of the judges, Wicaksono, the chief editor of news and entertainment website Plasa MSN, said that the most important criteria for the judges was the ease of access to public information.
'If the substance of the information is good but it is difficult to access, then it's useless,' he said.
'For example, when information on a budget is buried so deep in a website that you have to keep clicking and clicking until you find it.'
Another problem that often prevents websites from being transparent is the tendency of heads of institutions, such as ministers, to use websites to promote themselves, according to another judge, Jamil Mubarok, the executive director of the Indonesian Transparency Society (MTI).
'When you go to a ministry website, you're usually greeted with photos of the minister shaking hands with other public figures, receiving an award or visiting an orphanage,' he said on Friday.
Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Yuddy Chrisnandi said that there was still a lack of transparency on most public institutions' websites because of the culture prevalent among the country's civil servants.
'Some ministers are still unwilling [to increase their website's transparency]. Access to public information is still perceived as something that could destroy a ministry,' he said.
'The law is also not enforced consistently, and there is a lack of reward for institutions that have performed well.'
Yuddy continued that therefore, it was most important to increase awareness among the leaders of public institutions.
To follow up the awards, the MTI has set up a help desk for public institutions to consult on how to increase their website's transparency.
'We will also hold a meeting with each institution,' Mubarok revealed.
