The current state of the rupiah is connected with the state of the economy and recent world oil prices have put that under stress. Indonesia has massive oil reserves but doesn't have the production infrastructure in place right now to take advantage of it (they should put GW Bush in charge, that's one thing he knows all about). A recent Jakarta Post article talks about oil smuggling in Indonesia, possibly involving high-ranking directors in the national company Pertamina. Since the days of Suharto, Indonesia has had a government that is run from the top down by multiple levels of 'gatekeepers', little guys who you have to pay to proceed, whether its getting a passport or making a police report. You have to pay someone for doing you the 'service' even though that's their job.
Skimming is endemic, but it totally blew me away to hear about the money that was being made from oil smuggling. According to the article workers in Kalimantan built their own 7-mile pipeline out to a midnight tanker station and could fill the things in a few hours. Its like liquid money and President SBY estimates that up to Rp 8.8 trillion (US$850 million) is being loss!
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Corruption is endemic in Indonesia. SBY looks like a straight shooter so far, but lacks the supports of his corrupt officials and helpers. His own VP, Mr. Kalla, probably got rich through his corrupt dealings with the government of Suharto in the past. What he needs to fix immediately is the courts, from the lowest municipal courts all the way up to the supreme court. It is an open secret that these judges operate like mafia. How could you eradicate corruptions if the courts keep giving these corruptors a slap on the hand? Just because they have enough money to bribe their way out. The honest policemen (if there are any) would soon give up on catching these corruptors for they are only making the judges rich. If I was a policeman (an honest one, off course), I would just shoot the bastards, rather than booking them.