Govt limits offices to boost efficiency<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government has issued a regulation limiting provincial and
\nregency administration offices to 10 and 14 respectively, in the
\nname of efficiency.<\/p>\n
\"Currently, the government has an average of 19 provincial
\noffices and 20 regental offices, which are too many and overlap,\"
\nState Minister for Administrative Reforms Feisal Tamin said here
\non Friday.<\/p>\n
\"We must limit regional administration offices to make public
\nservices run efficiently,\" he said.<\/p>\n
This revamp of the bureaucracy is outlined under government
\nregulation No. 8 on the guidelines for regional institutional
\npolicy, which was issued on Feb. 17.<\/p>\n
The regulation, which will replace a government regulation
\nfrom 2000, gives regional governments a two-year transitional
\nperiod to implement the new policy.<\/p>\n
The 2000 regulation allowed regional governments to establish
\nlocal offices of agriculture, maritime and fishery affairs,
\nmining and energy, forestry, trade and industry, cooperatives and
\nsmall and medium enterprises, investment, manpower and
\ntransmigration, health, education, social welfare, resettlement
\nand regional infrastructure, communications, environmental impact
\ncontrol, information, tourism and culture, people protection,
\npeople empowerment and regional income.<\/p>\n
With the issuance of the new regulation, these regional
\noffices will be cut to 10 at the provincial level and 14 at
\nregency level.<\/p>\n
There has been a mixed reaction to the new policy from
\nregional administrations. Those who oppose the regulation fear it
\nwill lead to layoffs.<\/p>\n
Feisal said the government would ask civil servants affected
\nby the revamp either to move to other provinces where civil
\nservants were needed, take early retirement or resign
\nvoluntarily.<\/p>\n
Government data shows that Yogyakarta and West Java have a
\ncivil servant surplus of 5,000 and 4,000 respectively, while
\nSangihe Talaud in North Sulawesi and Ternate in North Maluku
\nrequire 1,500 and 3,000 civil servants respectively.<\/p>\n
\"I assure you that what we are trying to do is to reshape the
\ncurrent irrational bureaucracy into a rational one,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has a total of 3.95 million civil servants, or 1.8
\npercent of the country's population of 215 million. This is
\nsimilar to Vietnam, where civil servants make up 1.5 percent of
\nthe population, and the Philippines with 1.7 percent of the
\npopulation. Thailand's civil servants account for 2.8 percent of
\nthe total population and Singapore 3.7 percent.<\/p>\n
The assistant deputy for information and communications,
\nAkhmadsyah Naina, said the government was identifying civil
\nservants who could be trimmed from the bureaucracy as part of the
\nrevamp.<\/p>\n
He said early pension would be offered to civil servants from
\nApril to September 2003.<\/p>\n
The government also has issued a government regulation on the
\nauthority to install and dismiss civil servants.<\/p>\n
The ruling outlines the authority of the president, the head
\nof the National Civil Service Commission and public officials at
\nthe national and regional levels to install and dismiss civil
\nservants.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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