People-Tangerang-mayor<\/p>\n
JP\/20\/Wahidin<\/p>\n
Multa Fidrus
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nTangerang<\/p>\n
Wahidin Halim puts public interest above all else<\/p>\n
Just 10 months after Wahidin Halim was elected as Tangerang
\nmayor, significant changes can be seen across the municipality.<\/p>\n
None could have predicted Wahidin's efforts to go the extra
\nmile to develop the municipality, create clean governance and
\nuphold the law, all in the first year of his term.<\/p>\n
Three months after serving as mayor, the public has praised
\nhim for his assertiveness in returning roads, pavements
\nand river banks to their proper use.<\/p>\n
Pasar Anyer intersections that had been occupied by
\nhundreds of street vendors now look clean. Dozens of illegal
\nrestaurants that used to stand along the Cisadane riverbank on
\nJl. Benteng Makasar have been closed down and the riverbank
\nhas resumed its function as a city park.<\/p>\n
\"Street vendors have too long caused road users and
\npedestrians to be the losing parties and it is time now
\nto return roads and pavements to their real functions -- that
\nthey are the right of the public,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Five months later, Wahidin obliged all administration
\nemployees to wear Muslim garb every Friday, while non-Muslims
\ncould continue to wear civil servant uniforms as usual.<\/p>\n
Go to the municipal administration office complex on
\nJl. Satria Sudirman on a Friday, and one will see male employees
\nin baju koko (collarless shirts) and peci (traditional, black
\nrimless hats) and female employees wearing veils, red baju kurung
\n(sack dresses), long white skirts or pants.<\/p>\n
\"Banten claims itself as a center for Islamic boarding
\nschool students but what is the evidence of such a claim
\nwhen guests visit us and ask about that?\" Wahidin
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
With a requirement for people to wear Muslim garb once a week,
\nWahidin also wants to remind his staff to stick to the vision of
\nthe akhlakul kharimah (responsible and honest) leadership he
\ninitially committed himself to.<\/p>\n
Wahidin is also very concerned about environmental issues. In
\nconjunction with Tangerang's commemoration of World Environment
\nDay on June 10, he announced to the media the names of 10
\nindustrial firms alleged to have polluted the Cisadane River with
\ntheir waste.<\/p>\n
To maintain discipline, Wahidin has fired 10 employees this
\nyear for offenses including drug abuse, prolonged absence from
\nwork, misusing the administration budget and abusing their
\nauthority.<\/p>\n
The four aims for the municipality are to: recover and prompt
\ngrowth in the economy, improve the quality and quantity of
\nservice to the public, develop a strong and clean administration
\nand achieve environmentally friendly development.<\/p>\n
\"The administration is aware of (the aims)
\nexistence -- public servants and are willing to pursue the
\nachievement of the four aims if they are backed
\nup with religious principles,\" he said.<\/p>\n
It seems not enough for Wahidin to simply sit behind
\na desk in his office and give orders to his staff. He frequently
\nmakes visits on foot, and meets and talks to community members,
\nstudents, schoolteachers and traders at markets and listens to
\ntheir complaints.<\/p>\n
Several officials have even complained about Wahidin's style
\nas they could not keep up with him when accompanying him
\non field trips.<\/p>\n
As he had identified many problems in taking the municipality
\nforward Wahidin wrote a book, 1001 faces of Tangerang
\nMunicipality. Through the 155-page work, recently published,
\nWahidin has tried to analyze various problems.<\/p>\n
\"Development is identical with evictions -- the making of
\nsocial infrastructure. Is that wrong? Of course not. The
\ncity needs structural development but a city is not merely
\na structure.<\/p>\n
\"It needs space for human interaction, and basic rights, such
\nas justice, freedom and democracy are fundamental needs that
\ncannot be ignored by development pressures,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Movie director Garin Nugroho, who has added a comment on the
\nbook's dust jacket, said an important element in
\nleadership was the support that grows from the grass roots.<\/p>\n
\"Wahidin is a capable organizer, regulator
\nand communicator; that's the reason why a leader like him is
\nneeded,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Well-known lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, whose comments
\nalso appear on the same cover, said the power should be used for
\nthe benefit of people, which is why state officials are referred
\nto as civil servants. Wahidin was a good example of a state
\nofficial who was also a civil servant, he said.<\/p>\n
A type of leader who avoids formality, Wahidin always appears
\nexactly as he is, treating all he meets as friends, and is always
\nin good humor, with a joke ready. None of his staff feel
\nuncomfortable in his presence because Wahidin always makes them
\nlaugh.<\/p>\n
He is likely to be the first regional administration leader to
\nhave spent 42 percent of the administration's total budget on
\nimproving education.<\/p>\n
\"How can we create high-quality human resources if we
\nignore the educational infrastructure and other supporting
\nfacilities?\" he said.<\/p>\n
The allocation of Rp 80 billion from the Rp 205.5 billion
\nbudget was insufficient to renovate 212 dilapidated
\nschools this year, so he has called upon the
\nprivate sector to cover the financial shortfall.<\/p>\n
He is collaborating with private investors through
\nlow-interest loans under an installment scheme, with total
\ninvestment reaching Rp 228 billion to renovate damaged the
\nschools.<\/p>\n
\"If we relied solely on the annual budget, the renovation
\nwould take three years to complete. By then, some of the
\nschools might have collapsed,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Wahidin said the collaboration scheme with private
\ninvestors should be followed by other administrations, and
\nthat the neighboring Tangerang regency was already on the
\nlookout for investors for a similar project.<\/p>\n
He said if the administration could finish the renovation
\nwork next year, it would concentrate on subsidizing poor
\nprivate schools and help them to renovate using the 2006 budget.<\/p>\n
\"The following year, we shall focus on improving teachers'
\nwelfare,\" he said.<\/p>\n
However, not all of Wahidin's policies have been accepted. His
\nproposal to relocate all amusement centers in Karawaci was
\nopposed, and he eventually postponed it.<\/p>\n
His plan to eliminate becak (pedicabs) from several main
\nstreets was also opposed by becak drivers.<\/p>\n
Born in Pinang village, Tangerang municipality in 1954,
\nWahidin, known as a simple man, grew up and spent all his life
\nthere. He has refused to move the mayors' official residence to
\nJl. Daan Mogot.<\/p>\n
Walking barefoot every day to elementary school in Pinang
\nand junior high school in Cileduk was his habit because
\nhis father, a schoolteacher, could not afford to buy a bicycle
\nfor little Wahidin.<\/p>\n
He finally got a bike after he started senior high in
\nTangerang, continuing his studies at the University of Indonesia
\n(UI). After graduation, Wahidin was elected the first
\nvillage head with a university diploma, in 1978.<\/p>\n
The young Wahidin married soon after he was promoted as a
\ncivil servant in 1979. In the early 1980s, the father of three
\nwas promoted to the position of Ciputat and Tigaraksa district
\nadministration chief.<\/p>\n
In the course of his career, Wahidin then led several
\ntechnical agencies and was administrative assistant under the
\nTangerang regency administration.<\/p>\n
By late 2002, he was promoted to Tangerang municipal
\nadministration secretary and a year later was elected mayor.<\/p>\n
Wahidin has acquired much organizational experience as
\nchairman of many community groups. As manager of Tangerang
\nregency's Persita and Tangerang municipality's Persikota football
\nteams, he has placed a priority on education.<\/p>\n
He established the Nurani Kami Foundation, which regularly
\ngives scholarships to 150 poor school and university students
\neach year.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/people-tangerang-mayor-1447893297",
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