Again Corruption Reform Bubrating Why?

= = sync, corrected by elderman = = @ elder _ man

When the disaster comes, the country should be there to save the people. Emergency budgets are now available, disaster countermeasures are ready, and officials have to work selflessly. What happens if in the midst of that disaster, the funds that are supposed to be used to solve problems and help the victim get corrupted?

A corruption-related disaster countermeasures in the National Catastrophe Agency (BNPB) October 2026 showed painful irony. KPK expects a procrastination of procurement that has reached Rp150-an billion over 2024-2026. If proven, and normally proven, this crime not only harms the state's finances, but betrays the trust to protect the safety of the people.

What's more alarming, is that it's happened over and over again! The case of social aid Covid-19 enraptured former Social Minister Juliari Peter Baturan. Not long ago the free Bergizi Eating Program was also a top-notch talk. The Hajj service also has a history of corruption involving two ministers! From the aid of the poor to disaster management, the budget that should protect the public is repeatedly corrupted.

Why does the state still fail to seal off that kind of corruption, when we've been doing the prevention efforts since the 1960 / 70s? And we've been reinforcing it with bureaucratic reform since 2010...?

Since 2010, Indonesia's systematic bureaucratic reform. Rules are made, institutional structures updated, performance index compiled, integrity zones built, and rewards rewarded. The name of the State Advertising Ministry (PAN) expanded into the PAN Ministry and Biocracy Reform, confirms the agenda of change to clean bureaucracy and service.

However, the OTT against the local chief and ministry officials continues to repeat. It's a paradox: procedures and indicators change, but the behavior and relationship of fertile power for corruption remains established. Reform to semus-- looks to be running on paper, but hasn't quite felt in fact.

The No. 81 / 2010 press on the Grand Design Bibucracy Reform 2010-2025 sets clean, accountable, effective, and serving. The 2014 target includes increasing Corruption Perception Index to a 5.0 score on a scale of 0-10 and increasing agencies that gain common opinion without exception from BPK.

The thing is, administrative achievement doesn't automatically mean integrity. WTP assesses the quality of presenting financial reports, not the guarantee that a corruption-free agency. Even bureaucratic reform predicates don't guarantee that the office is clean of bribes and conflict of interest. Not even a few officials have been caught bribing the inspectors to acquire a WTP predicate!

Transparency International scores the Index Perception of Indonesia in 2025 for 34 out of 100, down from 37 in 2024. This is not a full picture of a corruption crime, but a warning that the integrity of the public sector is still deeply troubled.

The question is not because of lack of rules. Reformation seems easy to get caught in the fulfilment of documents, indicators, and ceremonies. While the door of corruption remains open, due to expensive political costs, patronage, conflict of interest, the procurement mechanism is still prone to manipulation, as well as weak supervision. Public office is still treated a lot as a position to dredge profit and privilefe, not a sacred duty to hold the trust of society.

The bureaucratic reform should touch the root of the problem more. Recruits and promotions of officials should be more transparent, conflicts of interest should be prevented, procurement needs to be opened to the public, and internal surveillance should be able to act independently without an intervention. Political parties also need to correct the transactional practices in the nomination of officials.

Law enforcement must be consistent, accompanied by the grabbing of crime-related assets. For the corruption of disaster funds that meet the terms of Article 2 (2) the Tipikor Act, the death penalty threat can be considered through the process of transparent and fair justice.

Do not let bureaucracy reform only succeed in renaming the ministry, multiplying indicators, and stacking performance reports. New reform means if corruption really shrinks and the right of the people is protected.

When disaster funding is a target of corruption, it's at stake not only the country's money, but the people's belief in it.