JAKARTA, Feb 4: Indonesia’s judiciary is the most graft-prone public institution in the country, a survey by the country’s anti-corruption agency revealed on Wednesday, while the state pawn shop came out as the cleanest institution.

Indonesia has consistently been rated as one of the world’s most corrupt countries and foreign firms frequently complain that graft deters investment.

Despite the dim picture, Indonesia’s graft agency, known as KPK, has gained something of a cult status in the country, detaining officials from the central bank, the attorney-general’s office, parliament, ministries and customs department.

The survey, involving more than 9,000 respondents, also found the most evidence of bribery in the finance ministry’s treasury office, state electricity firm and the state land agency.

The “integrity score” for public institutions and government companies last year improved to 6.84, against 5.53 in 2007.

A score of 10 indicates the institution is graft-free, while 1 points to the highest level of corruption.

“But the score is still lower than the average integrity score of public sectors in other countries,” said Mochammad Jasin, KPK’s deputy. About 52 per cent of the respondents said bribes were given after a mutual agreement, while 28 per cent said they gave bribes because public servants asked for them.

Nearly 60 per cent said it was normal to pay an “additional fee”, even though it did not guarantee better service, while 39 per cent felt giving money would ensure a better result. KPK said the reasons for bribery ranged from a common perception that paying “small money” was not corruption to a lack to ineffective punishments for public servants.

The KPK survey, conducted between June-September 2008, found that the cleanest institutions included the state pawn shops, the health ministry, postal company, and the foreign ministry.

The survey singled out Tanjung Pinang in Riau province, Bandung in West Java, Tangerang in Banten province, and Sumenep in East Java, as the most corrupt places for public services.

Last month, Transparency International Indonesia issued a survey that showed the highest levels of bribery was in the police force, while judicial corruption is the most costly.—Reuters