In an effort to curtail corrupt behavior and criminal activity in the country’s easternmost provinces, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is set to provide online training on corruption prevention on Tuesday and Wednesday using its JAGA mobile application.
The program is open to all residents of Papua and West Papua provinces, said Ipi Maryati Kuding, the acting spokesperson of the KPK’s prevention division.
She said the online event was intended as an exploration that could set up or galvanize the antigraft movement in the region through the use of the JAGA platform.
Until now, users in big cities supported by good internet connections and members of a digitally literate community have been the most active on the mobile platform.
“Through this event, the KPK also wants to develop effective collaboration in the development of corruption-prevention efforts [in Papua and West Papua],” Ipi said in a statement to The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Discussions will focus on three public service sectors, namely education, health and social assistance.
The training provided will touch on, among other issues, the challenges of corruption management in both provinces, as well as the management of regional budgets and village funds, in the hope that the public will play an active role in preventing corrupt practices.
“The KPK hopes that through this series of webinars, exposure from various sources and focus group discussions, we can formulate an action plan to tackle problems in those sectors at the end of the activity,” Ipi said.
As one of the last frontiers of development in the country, and in spite of its abundance of natural resources, graft still pervades the region of Papua and West Papua.
Read also: KPK denies ‘fattening’ organizational structure
Most cases in the region involve local elites, private sector players or officials from other regions, and usually revolve around the misuse of authority and/or funds, irregularities in procurement projects and bribery.
In 2015, former Papua governor Barnabas Suebu was sent to prison after he was found guilty of inflating prices for a designing project in 2008.
In August, the antigraft body sent to prison former public works agency official Michael Kambuaga for inflating prices in a road-construction project in 2015.
There are nearly a dozen more active cases at the KPK. Most recently, the commission is looking into alleged corruption in the building of a church in Mimika, Papua.
This week’s online program is a collaboration between the KPK and Germany-based Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and involves the administrations of Papua and West Papua, as well as civil groups and community leaders.
Speakers include officials from the Papua and West Papua inspectorate divisions; the local education, social and health agencies; and from the village and community empowerment agencies of Jayapura and Merauke.
They also include representatives from nongovernmental organizations, such as the Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) in Papua, the Independent Consultancy for People’s Empowerment (KIPRa) Foundation and the Indigenous Papuan Anti-Corruption Community (KAMPAK).
The KPK will send its regional coordinators and officials from the directorate of public complaints to speak at the event.
The JAGA app was launched in December 2016 in an effort to encourage transparency in the delivery of public services and the processing of state assets. Android users can download the app via the Google Play Store.
