Good Riddance Pastika! So long, farewell, good bye.

Good Riddance Pastika! So long, farewell, good bye.
By Bali BS News
Dec 26, 2005, 04:06

“Funny”, the amount of spin you find regarding Irjen. Polisi Made Mangku Pastika makes you think Bali’s present police chief is a popular figure, a local boy turned hero, an effective police commander who fights corruption. Wrong, wrong, wrong! And he is rumored now to be off to Jakarta to head Indonesia’s National Narcotics Agency. Even “funnier” and Freudian is the man rumored to be replacing him is Brigadier General Soenarko Danu Ardanto, currently National Police Headquarters Public Relations Chief! Which just goes to show Jakarta senses a problem with tourism but instead of dealing with the root causes, police / judicial corruption and terrorism (helped along by Indonesia’s refusal to outlaw Jemaah Islamiah, the Al Qaeda linked group most agree are behind the attacks in Indonesia, plus by police officers badly trained and seemingly too busy extorting money to give any due diligence to security) and appointing a renowned criminal detective to the job, it seems Jakarta thinks the answer to its tourism woes is yet more ugly whitewash, a professional smile and meaningless, insincere and ultimately unfulfilled clap trap.

Could it be the icon of wildly optimistic claims, former Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed is about to be upstaged in Bali? We can almost hear it now; “We have taken every conceivable action to ensure the safety of every guest to Bali (issued a memo to police officers not to allow any further terrorist attacks and to ensure uniforms are always clean and well pressed) and will be fully addressing the problem of rampant corruption amongst police officers on the island (I will be opening a special bank account for this purpose)”. Made Pastika’s advice to his replacement is to merge the Bali police’s “Intelligence [sic] Department” (that is the same department who assigned 6 of their officers recently to interrogate a European tourist for calling the police “corrupt” while Bali’s bombers were still on the loose) with the police criminal department. Our advice is different; “Make it a capital punishment offence for any police officer, state prosecutor and / or judge to be involved in corruption!”

Made Pastika was shrouded in positive publicity over his anti-corruption efforts, yet it seems no-one could ever find any trace of a single anti-corruption measure taken by him, ever. Made was also the media alleged hero of Bali because of his co-operation with International police forces, who ultimately did his subordinates jobs for them by tracking down the October 2002 bombers; Which was perfect really for the everyday Balinese policeman as this made sure they had plenty of time to go about their money making “duties”. Pastika’s own questionable background and possible cover-up or even involvement in the murder of two aid worker teachers in Indonesia just before he was given the top job on Bali, plus the fact the FBI wanted to question him over his role was overlooked of course. Then finally, despite all the intelligence data specifically predicting bombings in September / October 2005, Made’s finest failed miserably to stop JI’s 2005 outrages. “Funny”, Bali’s previous police chief Budi Setywan was shuffled off after he failed to stop October 2002, now Made is going after October 2005. That seems to be the Indonesian answer n’est pas? Move them out in the hope the unpleasant smell leaves with them!

You probably won’t find many Balinese lamenting Pastika’s departure, oh no, Made is one unpopular police chief with many if not most Balinese. Not that police officers are generally popular with decent honest everyday Indonesians anyway, because of their seeming en mass inclination towards extorting money from the unconnected populous. But Made Pastika is really out of favor with his fellow Balinese because of what they see as his nasty rules in order to kiss Indonesian police chief General Sutanto’s behind after Made’s buddy Dai Bachtiar was axed from the position. For example Made Pastika banned cock fighting, a veritable institution for the common man in Bali. But it seems that Made’s apparent brown nose has got him a very good job indeed with plenty of further opportunity; Indonesia’s narcotics police number one! General Sutanto must have been really impressed with how Pastika’s officers handled, literally, the drugs evidence in the Schapelle Corby case and how Made fought off all those allegations regarding bribes in the Michelle Leslie case; after all, how dare people say the missing 160,000+ AUD is anything to do with Michelle being freed after just 3 months!

We think the only thing Made Pastika will be missed for is his sense of humor [sic]. After escalating reports indicating Made himself was as bent as the next Balinese police officer, he resolved to quash any notion he and his subordinates were corrupt with possibly one of the world’s most bizarre attempts at twist in recent years. After the October 2005 bombings when the Balinese police force had to spend more money than budgeted and the Bali Hotels Association, Air Paradise (remember them) and some Australian travel agents offered a donation of US$20,000 to get the police by, Made Pastika refused it on the basis he did not want to see the Balinese police corrupted! A bit late for that Made, and by all reports US$20,000 is just under half of what it costs in corruption / bribe money for a foreign resident in Bali caught with drugs to have the police forget about it! As for how a donation to the police for an operational shortfall could somehow be corruption, we think Made’s sole proven talent must be clutching at passing objects on a windy day in a hay field or that police chief Pastika has made yet another Freudian slip; that all money coming into the police station from outside sources always goes into officers’ back pockets! And finally; “funny” that, how Air Paradise who must have known they were in serious financial trouble or even going bankrupt at that stage could find the money to help out; hmmmmmm!

Good riddance Made Pastika, we say you stink.