Lack of service disgruntle Jakartans<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
With many civil servants failing to show up for work on the first
\nday back after the long Idul Fitri holiday, many residents were
\nleft steaming over poor public services.<\/p>\n
A long queue was seen on Monday in front of the telephone and
\nwater billing counters at the Jakarta central post office in
\nCentral Jakarta.<\/p>\n
"I had to wait about 30 minutes before I could pay," said
\nMifta, 39, from Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Amrizal, 50, said he had no choice but to wait his turn. "I
\nhave to pay my bill today, otherwise the telephone company will
\ncut the connection."<\/p>\n
To make matters worse, Tiwa, a counter employee, said the
\ncomputers at the post office were hanging because the server at
\nthe North Jakarta Telecommunications office was down.<\/p>\n
Suratmo, 48, who lives in Wijaya Kusuma district in East
\nBekasi, said the telecommunications company disconnected
\ncustomers more than a month behind in their phone payments.<\/p>\n
"They cut my telephone connection once because I forget to pay
\nthree telephone bills. I will never do that again because it cost
\nme more than Rp 700,000 (US$82)," said Suratmo.<\/p>\n
The assistant manager at the water and telephone billing
\ncounters at the post office, Dian, said the counter was open
\nuntil Nov. 24, the day before Idul Fitri.<\/p>\n
She added, however, that the office forgot to inform customers
\nthat they could pay their telephone bills at the water counter.<\/p>\n
Some customers, however, said the counters were not open ahead
\nof the holiday.<\/p>\n
"I came here on Nov. 24 at lunchtime but the counter was
\nclosed," said one unhappy man.<\/p>\n
Another customer, Heni, 35, said the water counter was closed
\non Nov. 24, although it was announced in the newspaper that the
\ncounter would be open that day.<\/p>\n
Another counter attendant, Mustofa, insisted that the counter
\nwas open on Nov. 24.<\/p>\n
"We had to be open because the deadline for paying bills from
\ncity-run water company Lyonnaise Jaya was Nov. 24, while the
\ndeadline for Thames-PAM Jaya was moved forward from Nov. 25 to
\nNov. 21 because of the holiday," he said.<\/p>\n
On normal days, the counters open at 8:30 a.m. and close at 1
\np.m. As of 10:30 a.m. Monday, the water billing counter had
\nhandled only 78 customers.<\/p>\n
At the Kayu Putih subdistrict office in East Jakarta, about 20
\nrequests to renew ID cards and six requests for marriage
\ncertificates were submitted on Monday.<\/p>\n
The subdistrict head, Syofian Thahir, said the office was a
\nbit slower than usual. "Maybe people think the office will still
\nbe quiet on the first day of work."<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, foul actions also returned with the employees
\nwho made their way back to the office after the holiday. Although
\nit was clearly written that there was no charge to make or renew
\nID cards, when people asked the answer was "it's up to you".<\/p>\n
Benny, a resident of Pulomas, paid Rp 10,000 (US$1.18) to
\nsmooth the renewal of his ID card.<\/p>\n
State Minister for Administrative Reforms Feisal Tamin
\ndiscovered similar behavior when he inspected the Central Jakarta
\nMayoralty's Office on Monday.<\/p>\n
He found an increase in the fee to obtain a birth certificate
\nat the office. Isnaini, a resident who came to register her first
\nbaby, said the cost was Rp 35,000.<\/p>\n
She said that was the fee she had to pay for her nephew's
\nbirth certificate.<\/p>\n
The official rate is Rp 5,000.<\/p>\n
The state minister asked the South Jakarta mayor to look into
\nthe matter.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/lack-of-service-disgruntle-jakartans-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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