Mayors win antigraft award

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 10/05/2010 9:54 AM

The Yogyakarta municipal administration under Mayor Herry Zudianto and Surakarta Mayor Joko Widodo has won the 2010 Bung Hatta Anti-Corruption Award, the panel of judges announced Monday.

The two winners beat 36 other candidates in the selection rounds that took about six weeks.

Zoemrotin K. Susilo, on the judges’ panel, said that both Joko and Herry had succeeded in building transparent systems in their regional administrations.

“They tried to establish transparent budgeting and one-stop public service centers, which have resulted in efficiency,” Zoemrotin said.

One of Herry’s efforts, she said, was to issue a mayoral decree stipulating that the municipal administration would provide schools with an additional budget allocation to eradicate “illegal fees” imposed on students.

“Previously the municipal administration received a lot of reports about the illegal fees. With the issuance of the decree, he tried to respond to the problem and overcome corruption,” she added.

The other winner, Joko, succeeded in handling street vendors in a humane way, Zoemrotin said.

“The municipal administration always communicated with the street vendors instead of just evicting them as is commonly seen in other cities. Joko made a good approach by moving the vendors into strategic business locations and they only had to pay daily retribution fees,” Zoemrotin said.

“Doing this, he has shown that it is not low-income people who should be treated as enemies, but poverty itself,” she added.

According to Zoemrotin, the judges evaluated the nominees based on their credibility, commitment to corruption eradication, and their new systems, along with the impacts. “For example, the reform that Herry initiated has changed the people’s perception of corruption in Yogyakarta. We can also see his breakthroughs in the regulations and their impacts,” she said.

The Bung Hatta Anti-Corruption Award Foundation was established in 2003. It first granted the award to the late Moh. Yamin, Syamsul Qomar, Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas and Karaniya Dharmasaputra in 2003. In the following year, it honored Gamawan Fauzi and Saldi Isra.

After an absence of three years, the foundation issued the award again in 2008 with a focus on law and finance. The award went to former finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy leader Amien Sunaryadi, and Judicial Commission chairman M. Busyro Muqoddas.

Natalia Soebagjo, the chairwoman of the foundation that grants the award, said that the 2010 award focused on bureaucratic reform and delivery of public services. “The goal of corruption eradication is to improve public services to the people,” Natalia added.

The judges, Betti Alisjahbana, Zoemrotin, Eko Prasojo and Rikard Bagun, selected the two from eight names who passed two selection rounds. (lnd)