Indonesia’s National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas) confirmed on Monday that the government is currently developing a database as a strategy to prevent corruption, especially pertaining to social assistance funds during the ongoing pandemic.

“The government is currently striving to build a reliable database of social aid recipients. By collecting data on the names and the latest addresses based on the Single Identity Numbers (NIK), the objective is to modernize public services by using an online system and integrated supervision,” the institute’s Study Development Program Director, Hentoro Cahyono, stated.

Speaking at a webinar on “The Strategy of Corruption Eradication during COVID-19 Pandemic” here, he said the strategy involves various stakeholders, such as personnel of the Government Internal Supervision (APIP), the Finance and Development Supervision Agency (BPKB), and the Government Goods and Service Procurement Institute (LKPP), as well as legal enforcers.

They will help supervise the distribution of social aid funds and goods as well as services.

Corruptors of social aid funds had, so far, misused data of recipients, used fictive data, and duplicated the data.

Cahyono opined that the government’s supervision of the distribution of social aid funds had been weak so far.

“Corruption has been committed on account of the weak supervision of social aid funds,” he remarked.

Cahyono emphasized the need for improving the database in addition to ensuring transparent and effective supervision by involving concerned stakeholders to prevent corruption in the disbursal of social assistance funds during the pandemic.

Cahyono also pressed for a preventive strategy by promoting a public campaign on anti-corruption and repressive strategy by enforcing harsh punishment to have a deterrent effect on corruptors.
 

Source: Antara News