Denpasar the least corrupt city: TII

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 11/10/2010 10:11 AM | Headlines


A survey conducted by a graft watchdog said the capital of the province of Bali, Denpasar, is the least corrupt city in the country.

On Monday, Transparency International Indonesia (TII) released its 2010 Indonesian Corruption Perception Index survey, which measured perceptions of the corruption levels in cities across Indonesia. The national average was 4.9 on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being most corrupt.

Between May and October 2010, Transparency International Indonesia evaluated 50 cities, including 33 provincial capitals and 17 cities with good economic conditions.

The survey placed Denpasar as the least corrupt city in Indonesia with a score of 6.71, slightly above the national average, followed by Tegal in Central Java with 6.26 and Surakarta in Central Java with 6.00. The bottom three cities are Surabaya in East Java with 3.94, Cirebon in West Java with 3.61 and Pekanbaru in Riau with 3.61.

In 2008, Tegal ranked second from the bottom with a score only 3.32.

The most corrupt city in 2008 was Kupang in East Nusa Tenggara at 2.97, while in 2010 it scored 4.89. “Both city administrations’ officials came to us, seeking advice on how to eradicate corruption. They obviously worked hard,” Frenky Simanjuntak, TII manager for economic governance, said during the event.

“We surveyed 9,237 business people scattered throughout these cities, asking what they thought about corruption there and whether they thought corruption was still prevalent,” he said.

Another survey indicator was the respondents’ perception of the seriousness of the local administration and law enforcement officers in eradicating corruption, he said.

For example, Frenky said, one of the questions asked concerned the process of business licensing, the speed of installing public utilities and the handling of local tax payments.

Despite some improvements in both cities as reflected in the survey, TII secretary-general Teten Masduki advised the government and stakeholders not to be complacent. “Corruption is still around”.

Transparency International Indonesia chairman Todung Mulya Lubis went further, saying that there existed a cultural tendency that led people to embrace corruption. “Some people would probably not perceive corruption as a violation of the law. Some, I believe, even see bribery as an acceptable form of expressing gratitude,” he said.

He added that corruption eradication would not could not be done through repressive action alone. “We have to change the system itself, and then change the culture through education,” he said.

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