In the past 10 years, 53% of public tenders in Indonesia were about constructions. It is recorded that there had been a 50% increase in the number of corruption cases in infrastructure projects in Indonesia between 2015 and 2018. In 2020, Indonesia carried out 48.83% tender on infrastructure (36,871 tender) from the total of 75,326 tender. In total during 2020, the award value for all infrastructure tenders is IDR 183.77 trillion (USD 12.8 billion).

Other than interviewing and writing skills, a journalist also needs to be shrewd, including in picking the right time to contact a source. Bhekti was part of a collaborative investigative effort that involved civil society organizations and other journalists. She was the only female but felt it didn’t impact her work. She’s used to working with male colleagues and was able to quickly bond with her teammates. Ririn Wedia in Bojonegoro was also the only female journalist who survived the project. Ririn, other journalists, and civil society organizations were investigating Dander Water Park project in regency. Like Bhekti, Ririn said she wasn’t treated any differently by her male counterparts.

How Yogyakarta’s journalists and civil society organizations worked side by side and revealed possible fraud in a public construction project. The team found that the tender had used a quick procurement method that was only supposed to be used in small projects. They also found that contractors of two out of three construction work packages were controlled by one person, which hinted monopoly.

A training on anti-corruption held by ICW and LKPP on June 19, 2019, at Aston Bojonegoro City Hotel, saw a room filled by Bojonegoro-based journalists. As the participants, they discussed various government projects that might be prone to corrupt practices. They also learned about the opentender.net platform that ICW had developed – one of the website’s features allows public users, including journalists, to see the risk level of fraud of a government project.

It had never occurred to Ririn Wedia that her life could be akin to a roller coaster ride as it did during the three months prior to November 2019. In that crucial period, Ririn, a journalist of Suara Banyu Urip, was abandoned by her teammates in the middle of their investigation into Dander Park development project. But more than the betrayal, she also received threats from the people who were upset with her reporting. Under the mounting pressure, Ririn’s months of hard work culminated with the eventual publication of her story on November 8, 2019. Moved, Ririn said, “I’ve been a journalist for ten years, and I’ve never written anything like this.” Her eyes glistened with tears.