Home Minister Encourages Gov’t Internal Supervisory Apparatus to Prioritize Prevention

Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian (Photo: PR Office of Cabinet Secretariat/Agung)

Minister of Home Affairs Muhammad Tito Karnavian has encouraged the Government Internal Supervisory Apparatus (APIP) to make prevention a top priority in order to minimize violation.

Therefore, APIP, he added, needs to create supervisory mechanism that could prevent violations, be it criminal violations, administrative violations, or violations related to the members’ attitude.

“Prevention is better than cure,” Minister of Home Affairs said in his directives at the Indonesian Regional Inspectors Coordinating Meeting, Tuesday, (07/26) during a virtual session.

The Minister also pointed out that the achievement of an inspector is not determined by the number of violators that have been caught and jailed, but by his/her ability to provide assistance and inputs to prevent violation.

“More violations occur in the institution shows that the government internal supervisory apparatus is not working well,” he said, adding that the APIP should take proactive measures to prevent violation and this must be the first principle of the APIP in carrying out the tasks.

Moreover, the APIP is the backbone of inspection in government area, be it central government or regional governments, he added.

However, Tito stressed that prevention is conducted by not tolerating the existing violations, adding that minor violations that can be handled through restorative mechanism do not necessarily have to be handled with criminal approaches.

In addition to prevention, the Minister continued, the APIP also plays a role to supervise, regularly or specifically, in stages.

He added that the APIP’s other role is to give assistance during the external supervision, which is conducted by Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the Law Enforcement Apparatus (APH), or other institutions.

Furthermore, APIP also plays a role in giving advice to the superiors on measures that need to be taken whenever violation found, he added.

“(Inputs) can be in the forms of warnings, sanctions, and, to a further extent, law enforcement that will be handled by the APH,” he asserted.

On that occasion, the Minister also reminded that the APIP should improve it integrity as it plays a strategic role in supporting and strengthening the effectivity of internal supervisory system to realize an effective, efficient, and accountable government.

“To improve the integrity of inspectorate apparatus is not easy because the APIP, the inspectorate, is a “broom” – a broom that tries to prevent and to clean up to create a clear and clean government,” Tito remarked.  (PR Office of Ministry of Home Affairs/UN)(AW/EP)