Indonesia Committed to Creating Clean Government: President

Jakarta - The Indonesian government is committed to creating a clean government and to combat corruption no matter what obstacles might be placed before its implementation, said the Indonesian president here Wednesday. "Despite the obstacles and challenges that still exist, the government will continue to promote the improvement of the government and law enforcement climate," said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono while speaking before 128 ambassadors and representatives of international organizations in the Pancasila Building Complex Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday. "There is still a shortage, there is still a lot of homework to be done. For example, many corruption cases are still being reported, even though we have conducted the most aggressive anti-corruption campaign in history and we indiscriminately take action for corruption against hundreds of our state officials, ministers, governors, mayors and parliament members who have been convicted," the President said. The president also said that bottlenecks and bureaucracy still exist, despite Indonesia's perception of corruption having improved during the last seven year, but the road is long and many things must be done. In realizing that clean governance requires the maximum effort, the administration is now taking two kinds of approaches, namely the application of rewards and punishments. "The reward and punishment system is now being applied. The rescue of finances and assets are real facts, we have realized that low salaried employees create more temptations for irregular acts and corruption, therefore this is being improved every year," he said. (*)