Ginandjar expects more from BPS<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government's top planning chief Ginandjar
\nKartasasmita said yesterday he expects a lot more from the
\nCentral Bureau of Statistics (BPS) toward supporting the
\ngovernment's development program.<\/p>\n
The State Minister of National Development Planning Ginandjar
\nsaid that the bureau must be more professional in collecting and
\nproviding accurate data.<\/p>\n
The bureau should be aware of the significant role of
\nstatistics in national development, he said during a meeting with
\nthe staff of the BPS.<\/p>\n
\"The weak coordination among units of data collectors has
\noften caused duplication in their work,\" said Ginandjar, who also
\nheads the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas).<\/p>\n
He blamed ignorance for the poor level of participation of the
\npublic and corporations in surveys and censuses conducted by BPS.
\nThis, he said, contributed to the low quality of data collected.<\/p>\n
BPS Chief Soegito said the low budget allocated by the
\ngovernment for the statistics agency has prevented it from
\nembarking on more ambitious programs.<\/p>\n
The current budget is too small to run such a big bureau
\nemploying over 12,300 employees, he told Ginandjar.<\/p>\n
The low salaries offered by the agency has also made it
\ndifficult for the agency to recruit people with high academic
\nqualifications who are essential for BPS's task.<\/p>\n
Already, there are signs that many of bureau's staff with
\nmasters and doctorate degrees are being lured by private
\ncompanies, he said. Some have in fact already moved, he added.<\/p>\n
Ginandjar said Bappenas in particular relies on the statistics
\nagency to provide data about the level of poverty in Indonesia.
\nHe stressed that these data should be continually updated.<\/p>\n
He said not just the government, but the business community
\nalso makes decisions and plans based on statistics, including
\neconomic indicators.<\/p>\n
Soegito earlier defended the accuracy of the statistics
\nsupplied by his agency and dismissed as groundless the allegation
\nthat some of the figures were often fixed to suit the needs of
\nthe government.<\/p>\n
\"We gather and process data without any obligation to satisfy
\na particular party,\" he told newsmen at a seminar on the poverty
\nalleviation program on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The BPS computerized data bank is fully accessible to anyone
\ninterested in checking data and many analysts and officials from
\nother governmental departments are already using this facility,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged, though, that some analysts may interpret the
\nBPS data in a different way or may sometimes dispute the figures.
\n\"Nonetheless, such differences of views should not immediately be
\nconstrued as doubts about the credibility and reliability of our
\ndata,\" Soegito argued.<\/p>\n
Any particular data, he added, could mean different things to
\ndifferent users depending on the aspect of their analyses.<\/p>\n
\"We should analyze particular data in view of the methodology
\nused in the data gathering and processing,\" he said, adding that
\nthe users could check the methods applied by bureau in its data
\ngathering and processing.<\/p>\n
Soegito recalled that several analysts had previously harbored
\nsome doubts about the reliability of the BPS data on the consumer
\nprice index that measures the rate of inflation.<\/p>\n
\"But those doubts were removed after we showed them the very
\nbulky document that contained the United Nations-recommended
\nmethodology we have always used,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Soegito said he was concerned that a number of analysts
\nsometimes trusted the World Bank data on Indonesian economic
\nindicators more.<\/p>\n
Those analysts might not know that the World Bank data are
\nalways derived from and are based on the BPS statistical data, he
\npointed out.<\/p>\n
\" Our statistics officials, right down from the subdistrict
\noffices up to the headquarters, are liable to severe
\nadministrative penalties for tampering with or fabricating data,\"
\nSoegito said. (rms\/vin)<\/p>",
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