2.6 million civil servants to be transferred: Minister

2.6 million civil servants to be transferred: Minister

BANDUNG (JP): Before the law on regional autonomy is
implemented in January next year, more than 2.6 of the 4.2
million central government employees will be transferred to
provincial administrations, a minister said on Monday.

"It's not really difficult because we will only need to change
their status from central government employees to provincial
administration employees," State Minister of Administrative
Reform Ryaas Rasyid said here.

He said most of the civil servants to be transferred were
former employees of ministries which had been dissolved or
merged.

The government under President Abdurrahman Wahid has dissolved
two ministries -- the ministry of information and the ministry of
social affairs.

It also merged the office of the state minister of regional
autonomy and the ministry of home affairs; and the office of the
state minister of human rights affairs and the ministry of
justice.

Ryaas said a draft on the transfer had been submitted to the
President for approval, but it had not yet been signed because of
political considerations.

"The President is very cautious about the impact of the
transfer since it involves a large number of people. He is
considering the political impact of the relocation.

"I just give technical advice. If he (the President) wants,
the decree could be signed this month," he said.

He said that although the total number of civil servants was
only 2 percent of the country's total population of more than 200
million, the civil service needed to be restructured through the
transfers.

He said the transfer would involve civil servants of various
ranks and positions, including the government's top echelon of
officials.

As many as 250 top-echelon officials, 500 second-echelon
officials and more than 2,000 officials who hold structural
positions will be transferred, he said.

"If they refuse to be transferred they can stay in Jakarta
without any structural positions," Ryaas said.

He said the planned transfer had been discussed with various
parties and had, so far, received no objections or complaints.

Besides the transfers to provincial administrations, the civil
servants also will be moved to state enterprises and even to
police headquarters as administrative staffers, he said.

"The police force is planning to redeploy officers currently
assigned to administrative duties to become professional police
officers. So they need new employees to replace them," he said.
(25/jun)