This is probably not the best time to exclaim “horas!” to the citizens of Medan (unless one were to do it ironically), but the North Sumatra capital has been named the most corrupt city in Indonesia in 2017.
Corruption watchdog Transparency International Indonesia (TII) yesterday released the results of its corruption perception index study, which was carried out in 12 major cities across Indonesia. Medan scored the lowest of them all with only 37.4 points, followed by Makassar with 53.4 and Bandung with 57.9.
Surprisingly, citizens of the capital of Indonesia have reason to rejoice as North Jakarta (the capital’s other municipalities were not included in the survey) scored the highest in the study with 73.9 points, followed by Pontianak (66.5) and Pekanbaru (65.5).
The study is based on TII’s interviews with 1,200 entrepreneurs in the 12 cities, asking their opinions on factors such as the prevalence of corruption in their daily dealings with the public sector to the effectiveness of corruption eradication efforts in their respective cities.
But it’s not all grim news according to TII. The combined average of the 12 cities this year, 60.8 points, is an increase from two years ago, when the average was 54.7.
“There have been many improvements in public service, especially involving entrepreneurs and service providers. (The improvements) come in the form of reforms on permits, procurements, and regulations,” said TII researcher Wawan Suyatmiko, as quoted by CNN Indonesia.
Be that as it may, corruption remains a huge problem in Indonesia. According to a study by Indonesia Corruption Watch earlier this year, the state suffered losses of more than IDR3 trillion (US$244 million) in 2016 due to graft.
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