Salary increase<\/p>\n
From Jayakarta<\/p>\n
Both the beginning and end of the year is almost always marked
\nby psychologists raising the issue of civil servants' salaries.
\nRecently they also suggested that the government raise the salary
\nof middle-ranking police officers by between 300 and 1,000
\npercent. They argue that Indonesian police salaries are the
\nsmallest among the ASEAN countries.<\/p>\n
The proposal has been met with great enthusiasm by all parties
\nconcerned, including middle-ranking officers in the Armed Forces.
\nAccording to the officers, they are middle-level managers and as
\nsuch hold decisive positions in the Armed Forces. It is only
\nnatural that they receive a salary that reflects their
\nimportance.<\/p>\n
Demands for salary increases are always welcomed, especially
\nwhen they come from psychologists who, we all assume, are able to
\nsee beyond the hard facts. But a 100 percent hike is impossible,
\nlet alone the 300 or 1,000 percent raise they suggest. The
\n1995\/1996 state budget for civil servants' salaries is Rp 12.4
\ntrillion (US$5.5 billion) of the total amount of Rp 78 trillion.
\nIf the government approved an increase of, say, 20 percent,
\nprices would surge by 50 percent. I am afraid the call for higher
\nsalaries is nothing more than a way to make life more miserable
\nfor government employees.<\/p>\n
In my opinion, the salaries of government employees are
\nsufficient. There are no officials in other ASEAN countries whose
\nsalaries are in the hundreds of thousands. The problem is, the
\nintrinsic value of the rupiah is low when converted into the
\ncurrencies of other developed countries or even other ASEAN
\ncountries.<\/p>\n
I am therefore calling on our experts to stop playing the old
\ntune of asking for a raise. They should instead find a way of
\nmaking the rupiah stronger so that its value will not be much
\nlower than that of the foreign currencies. Some ways of doing it
\nare to eliminate corruption, collusion, monopoly\/oligopoly, red-
\ntape and illegal fees.<\/p>\n
I also want to warn against insincere efforts to improve the
\nsalaries of civil servants and pensioners in the coming years. In
\nfive to 10 years to come, a salary hike will be announced in
\nJanuary, to coincide with the Idul Fitri holiday when people
\nindulge in a shopping spree. A hike will only make them better
\nvictims for traders.<\/p>\n
If the government has plans to raise civil servants' salaries,
\nI suggest that it is done through price cuts for goods produced
\nby state-owned companies. These could include lower electricity,
\ntelephone, transportation and water rates as well as reduced
\nprices for goods sold at cooperatives. It would be even better if
\npensioners were freed from the 15-percent savings tax.<\/p>\n
It is my hope that those in power today realize that one day
\nthey will retire and, although they have no financial problems
\ntoday, they will eventually arrive at that stage in life where to
\nlive as a pensioner is like a bad dream.<\/p>\n
Name and address<\/p>\n
withheld<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/salary-increase-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }