When it was first open to the public 10 months ago on International Anti-corruption Day, Ruang Terbuka Hijau Tugu Integritas (Integrity Monument Park) in Pekanbaru, Riau was supposed to stand as a symbol of the fight against graft in both Riau, which has seen three of its governors arrested by the Corruption Eradication Committee (KPK), as well as throughout Indonesia, with a sign that reads “A park that shows how to teach integrity”.

But after the Riau High Prosecutor’s Office named 18 suspects for allegedly colluding to illegally profit off of the park’s construction, it looks like the only thing the park will teach people is the meaning of irony.

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Based on the prosecutor’s investigation, it is estimated that about IDR 1.23 billion (US$91,000) out of the IDR 8 billion budget for the park was siphoned off and split between the suspects.

Among the suspects is one of the governor’s current advisors, who was previously head of the Riau Public Works Department, as well as 12 civil servants, two contractors and three supervising consultants.

The high prosecutor’s assistant in charge of special crimes, Sugeng Riyanta, said their investigation had revealed that the suspects had colluded to profit off of the project from the start, beginning with the tender process, which was engineered so that their chosen contractors could win the bid to construct the park and monument.

“The tender estimates were embellished and the procurement documents were engineered, meaning that, in addition to the state’s losses, there is also an element of criminal falsification of documents,” Sugeng said as quoted by Tempo.

Sugeng lamented that the corruption of the park project lends credence to the numerous public reports that similar cases of graft remain rife in Riau.

As hilariously ironic as this case is, should the accusations prove to be true, it’s also a sad reminder of just how insidiously pervasive the culture of corruption is throughout Indonesia. It’ll take more than strong independent institutions like the KPK (which some in the government say is unnecessary and are trying to weaken) but some kind of… “mental revolution”, as well (vaguely remember somebody talking about that before…).

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