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Asset forfeiture bill should help fund infrastructure development, reform activists say
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Illustration of anticorruption. (Shutterstock/kenary820)
C
o:p>Commemorating the 25th anniversary of the 1998 reform movement, several reform activists gathered in the Utan Kayu Theater in East Jakarta on Saturday to demand the House of Representatives start deliberating the asset forfeiture bill, saying that any recovered assets could help fund infrastructure developments across the country.
Beginning with poetry readings and a musical performance from activists Afnan Malay and John Tobing, the ‘98 Activists in Solidarity later delivered their verdict on the progress and challenges Indonesia has faced since the fall of Soeharto in 1998, claiming that some of the reform agendas the country has set out to do are still grinding slowly.
“Indonesia has undergone a lot of positive changes, especially through the massive infrastructure developments in the last 10 years,” activist Danang Ardianta said on Saturday. “We can’t progress into a developed country without the necessary infrastructure, but we still have a lot of homework to do in eradicating corruption."
Without naming names, Danang highlighted the estimated Rp 8 trillion (US$535 million) the state lost in the recent alleged graft case involving Communication and Information Minister Johnny G. Plate, which Danang described as a “bitter present" for the 25th anniversary of the reform movement.
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) on Wednesday named Johnny a suspect and arrested him on corruption charges in a case related to the procurement of base transceiver stations (BTS) for a government 4G infrastructure project. Johnny was the sixth person to be named a suspect in the case.
Given the current situation, the ‘98 Activists in Solidarity issued several demands to lawmakers and the government.
