ACT Funds Misuse; Govt Urged to Draft Rules on Philanthropic Institutions
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4 July 2022 18:40 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Chairman of the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission VIII Yandri Susanto asked the government to produce regulations concerning the mechanism for collecting funds and its accountability in philanthropic institutions or public fundraising agencies.
Yandri voiced the request in response to the alleged misuse of public donation funds by the humanitarian organization NGO Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT).
“Clear rules for public accountability are necessary because they collect public funds. There needs to be audit standards and so on so that the funds are not misused,” said Yandri to Tempo on Monday, July 4, 2022.
According to him, the monitoring of this community aid fund management agency is under the Ministry of Social Affairs. “So the Ministry of Social Affairs and related ministries/institutions need to create more detailed rules, including sanctions,” he underlined.
Clear rules and sanctions are deemed vital to cover the possibility of moral hazard in collecting public donations.
To date, the collection of public funds has only been regulated by Law No. 9 of 1961 on the collection of funds and goods and Government Regulation No. 29 of 1980 on the gathering of donations. These two old regulations only regulate the bureaucracy of granting permits. No rules on accountability and sanctions, if there are abuses in the use of public donations, were mentioned.
The issue of misappropriation of funds by ACT recently seized the public spotlight following the special report in Tempo Magazine’s July 2, 2022 edition. The former president of the humanitarian group, Ahyudin, was suspected of spending the foundation's funds on personal interests, starting from buying a house and its furniture up to transferring money worth tens of billions to his family.
Ahyudin, 65, also reportedly gave himself a jumbo salary of up to Rp250 million per month and various luxurious facilities.
DEWI NURITA
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