I

ndonesia and its capital city, Jakarta, are undergoing changes after President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo and Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama took up their respective positions.

However, the changes they are trying to implement are facing resistance from parties involved in the governance of the country and capital city.

This is no surprise especially when the changes affect the power and authority of such parties or have a direct impact on their financial benefits.

The drive to eradicate corruption in a country where the problem is endemic is a Herculean task. Imagine a policeman with a monthly salary of Rp 3 million (US$240) and who is used to stopping five cars a day for traffic violations and each driver paying him Rp 50,000, or Rp 250,000 per day.

This, assuming the policeman works regulating the traffic for 10 days in a month, will mean a steady income of Rp 2.5 million per month and provide a total income of Rp 5.5 million per month.

This is now the regular monthly income the police lives on is Rp 5.5 million and not Rp3 million. Will the policeman turn a new leaf to live on Rp 3 million per month?

Another example is a civil servant who simply processes documents by sorting and passing them on to the right party in the department who has a salary of Rp 2 million per month and is paid Rp 10,000 per document by those that want him to promptly pass the document to the right person, and he handles a total of 300 documents per month or Rp 3 million per month.

Similarly this civil servant is now living on a regular monthly income of Rp 5 million per month and not Rp 2 million per month, and is unlikely to turn a new leaf to live on Rp 2 million per month.

This is the corruption problem endemic in the country and is widespread across all government bodies and departments, and the amounts get bigger as one moves up the chain of authority. Imagine therefore the politics involved for all those who have a vested interest.

IB Saw
Jakarta