The government has enacted several policies in recent weeks to help battle the widespread perception of corruption within the bureaucracy and law enforcement agencies. Last week, President Joko Widodo signed into law the Saber Pungli (Illegal Payment Clean Sweep) Taskforce to battle bribery and extortion along with a new website and hotline through which citizens could report official corruption confidentially.
But apparently there are those within the ranks of the Police who feel that people need more of an incentive to go through the potentially risky process of filing reports on corruption. Which is why they are going to offer a Rp 5 million cash reward to citizens who do.
Central Java Police Regional Oversight Commissioner Bambang Prayitno said the reward would be given to those to report on case of civil servants soliciting illegal fees for administrative services.
“People who report to [a member of the police] that they have been solicited for a bribe will be rewarded by the police with Rp 5 million,” Bambang said on the sidelines of a discussion about extortion in Semarang on Tuesday as quoted by Kompas.
Bambang did not elaborate on how exactly the reward program would work, such as whether the accused official would have to be proven guilty before the reward was given. But for a possible Rp 5 million, it is likely that the program will be successful in getting many more people to try and report on corruption, which has got to be a good thing, right?
