Salary rise welcomed with skepticism<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Legislators welcome the government's plan to
\nincrease the salary of civil servants and members of the Armed
\nForces (ABRI) but doubt if it would significantly improve their
\nwell-being.<\/p>\n
But members of the House of Representatives hoped that the
\nsalary rise would encourage civil servants and ABRI members to
\nimprove their services.<\/p>\n
The salary rise was announced by President Soeharto yesterday
\nwhen presenting the 1995\/96 state budget plan to the House, in
\nwhich he said that limited state financial resources made the
\ngovernment raise the salaries modestly.<\/p>\n
\"The government has decided to raise the salary of civil
\nservants, members of the Armed Forces, pensioned civil servants
\nand retired soldiers and their widows by 10 percent,\" he said,
\nfollowed by a thunderous applause -- the only time it was heard
\nthroughout his speech.<\/p>\n
The increase, Soeharto said, would be carried out in two
\nstages: the salary rise of civil servants of Class I and II (the
\nlowest echelons) will come into effect as of this month and those
\nof Classes III and IV as of April.<\/p>\n
The last time civil servants saw their salaries go up was in
\n1993, when the salaries of lower echelons went up by 18 percent
\nand higher echelons by 12 percent.<\/p>\n
\"We have to thank the government for their initiative, even if
\nthe raise is only 10 percent,\" said Oka Mahendra from House
\nCommission II overseeing home affairs.<\/p>\n
Although Oka was convinced the increase could help minimize
\ncorruption and illegal fees, he pointed out that the government
\nhas yet to improve aspects other than salary, such as improving
\nsupervision, to make a significant change in the level of their
\nproductivity.<\/p>\n
Soerjadi, the deputy House Speaker in charge of economic
\nmatters, said the planned salary rise would mean \"very little\" to
\nthe improvement of civil servants' and ABRI members' well-being,
\nsince inflation was already as high as 9.24 percent this year.<\/p>\n
He hoped that the pay rise would help materialize a clean and
\nrespectable government that the people yearn for.<\/p>\n
\"But it's public secret that corrupt officials are usually
\nthose with a senior position, not lower-ranking bureaucrats who
\nhave no chance to embezzle state money,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Inflation<\/p>\n
Bambang Warih Kusuma from the budget commission said the
\nincrease was only made to conform with the level of inflation.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that it would be more effective to transfer
\npart of civil servants to the private sector. \"By cutting down
\nthe number of civil servants and transferring them to private
\ncompanies, they could work twice as effectively as they do now,\"
\nhe added.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the House's United Development Party (PPP) faction
\nHamzah Haz said the rise \"would at least maintain the purchasing
\npower of civil servants\" and be a positive boost to the business
\nsector. \"They certainly won't be saving all their earnings,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Aisyah Aminy, chairperson of House Commission I overseeing
\ninformation, diplomacy and security, also voiced similar
\nskepticism about the actual value of the salary rise.<\/p>\n
\"What does 10 percent mean if inflation is already nine
\npercent?\" asked the legislator from the Moslem-oriented PPP.<\/p>\n
Outspoken legislator Aberson Marle Sihaloho from the budget
\ncommission, said that the government should be more serious about
\nimproving civil servants' welfare if it was serious about
\ncreating a clean and respectable government.<\/p>\n
He said, what had often been heard from the government was its
\ncalls for austerity measures to save state money to keep
\ndevelopment programs going. \"It's just lip service,\" said the
\nHouse member from the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).<\/p>\n
Economist Hadi Soesastro, from the Center for Strategic and
\nInternational Studies, on one hand welcomed the salary increase,
\nwhile on the other hand was uncertain about its capability to
\nminimize corruption, encourage productivity and increase
\nefficiency.<\/p>\n
\"I'm afraid the connection between salary and quality of work
\nfrom our civil servants is not that straight forward,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He considered that the number of bureaucrats and their role in
\nthe economy was still too large and therefore continually became
\na burden to the state budget.(rid\/hdj\/pwn\/pan)<\/p>",
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