Environmental Disasters and the Network of Corruption Behind Them

Every time there is a change in national leadership, especially a change in president, we generally hope for real renewal to achieve better governance. In this regard, of course, what is already good can be maintained so that it can become even better.

However, where the expected improvement will come from and for whom the expected improvement will always seem to be a question and a doubt to get a positive answer. Moreover, the improvements in question are to reduce the negative impact of disasters due to environmental damage or environmental disasters.

The expectation is that these improvements will not only be reflected in national policy documents, but also able to avoid the current political reality which still tends to lean towards short-term anthropocentric interests.

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Catastrophic increase

The increasing number of disasters during this time seems to need to be a priority for prevention.

This can be attributed to the role of certain sectors or government agencies. The accumulation of sector activities that have an impact on disasters appears to exceed the capacity of each sector's policy implementation to control those impacts.

And, because state instruments are only the sum or accumulation of sector roles, preventing disasters becomes a public good that is outside all sectors. Here there appears to be institutional failure (institutional failure) when collective responsibility is just a catchphrase.

Therefore, the country must be able to solve the collective problem on two levels through state institutions that are established. The destruction of natural resources and its huge negative impact due to the behavior of users in the field cannot be controlled when others also participate in its utilization.

Therefore, they are encouraged to disobey regulations governing the use of natural resources so that their function is sustainable.

Such a reality is usually difficult to accept, unless shown why, for example, over 35 million hectares of natural production forests have been damaged and abandoned by their owners.

Protected areas as a natural protection basis are also constantly threatened by other uses. Cumulative damage to protected areas along with climate factors have been found to increase the number of disasters throughout the country.

The number of disaster incidents, according to the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), was 1,246 in 2009, increased to 2,575 in 2018, and is projected to reach 3,544 in 2022 and rise to 5,400 in 2023. As of the beginning of this year until March 2024, there have been 588 disasters resulting in 118 deaths and 3,042,425 displaced and affected individuals.

Despite it now becoming a global phenomenon, the disasters recorded by BNPB are closely related to the negative impacts of sectoral work, especially due to the damages caused by the exploitation of natural resources that have not been able to be controlled.

The disaster is a manifestation of the environmental damage and pollution caused by all sectors due to various deviations that occur on a large scale. Corruption is the root of the problem.

Cumulatively, damage to protected areas along with climate factors has been known to increase the number of disasters throughout the country.

Corruption by or led by state officials has made the causes of natural disasters and environmental damage beyond the responsibility of state institutions. Thousands of data on natural resource corruption collected by the Indonesian National Police also indicate a tendency towards increased illegal production of natural resources.

Corruption network

In the corruption case by the regent of Pelalawan, Riau, which Jacui Baker researched in 2020, it was clear that the strong corruption network that supported it was visible.

Of the 201 nodes found to support corruption, the largest to smallest number were perpetrators from the pulp and paper industry, regional forestry agencies, the regent's trust network, the non-governmental private sector. pulp, provincial forestry agencies, as well as government employees.

Using social network analysis, Baker highlights how corruption networks work and the patterns and roles of actors hidden behind them. In the scheme, pulpwood entrepreneurs develop vertically integrated wood suppliers through independent shell companies.

In this case, corruption networks are not separated from the political economic dynamics of the various sectors or actors in which they operate.

In that corruption operation, the perpetrators from the government held a monopoly control over the main resources, but the entire network was dominated by the private sector, with a total of 82 nodes. Unfortunately, the way to handle corruption by law enforcement generally only targets the main perpetrators of corruption. Meanwhile, various supporting actors involved in the activity are exempt from prosecution.

With such a governance network, there are three governors in Riau who have been implicated in corruption. One of them is related to procurement of goods and services, while the other two are linked to the utilization of natural resources.

During that period, three heads of the Riau Province Forestry Service, the perpetrator and his successors, were proven to have committed corruption.

The climate of policy deviation is also marked by the revocation of Regional Regulation Number 18 of 2018 regarding the Spatial Planning of Riau Province by the Supreme Court, among others, due to the legality of millions of palm oil plantations in peatland conservation areas.

The corruption octopus in Riau is also estimated to involve corruption committed by ten regents and mayors during an 11-year period. Seven individuals, consisting of local leaders and their staff, have been proven to engage in corruption related to procurement of goods and services. The other six are linked to illegal exploitation of natural resources.

In this corruption, the role of private actors is quite dominant.

What was revealed in the trial in court, among other things, is that they loaned companies for corrupt transactions, carried out fictitious permit applications, acted as intermediaries in the giving of bribes, and set up shell companies.

Unfortunately, the way law enforcement handles corruption generally only targets the main perpetrators of corruption.

In addition, applying for permits for companies that do not have the competence to run them, applying for permits in inappropriate locations, processing fictitious permits, and participating in financing religious activities (Jikalahari, 2022).

The various actor risks inherent in illicit transactions can form a structure with an established network of actors.

This means that the corruption network must be carried out through an exclusive role structure. Those illegal transactions have even been considered an asset that is the responsibility of legal businesses.

The main feature is to limit the flow and leakage of information that is considered sensitive (Silitonga, et al. 2023).

The corruption configuration in Riau appears to represent the involvement of various actors in natural resource corruption nationally. Therefore, eradicating the current corruption should not be like pulling out weeds that only exist on the visible surface of the ground. Instead, it is necessary to reach the roots that spread underground and may grow and develop over time. The weakening of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) can be seen as part of this effort.

New leader challenges

The hope to create a better condition for the majority of society who uphold universal norms of goodness - which are usually open in nature - appears to differ from the second group who hold authority in networks to obtain national wealth through closed, transactional political channels.

Ironically, this second group—from facts studied by the Corruption Eradication Committee (KPK) (2014-2016)—could form a shadow government or cryptocracy.

In this case, political power is not only held by representatives who are elected according to the law, but also by groups who hold power behind the scenes. Therefore, even though it is known, they operate outside the supervision of state institutions. The corruption network in Riau, which has been described before, shows this.

In such conditions, the true leader in an administrative area may not always be as they should be. Moreover, changes are also determined by actual and symbolic power as well as the social distance between the changing leader - such as a new president - and the vast scope of areas in Indonesia that need to change. In this regard, there are those who say: "The head of the snake can be left behind by its tail".

Corruption, especially those related to natural resource degradation and natural disasters, almost always occurs due to support from a social-political network. This network is very wide and overlapping with superior-subordinate networks within and across state institutions.

Facts like that have contributed to the reason why Indonesia's corruption perception index is only 34 out of a maximum of 100. This poses a challenge for the new president to strengthen anti-corruption institutions in the future.

Hariadi Kartodihardjo, Professor at the Faculty of Forestry and Environment IPB University