Bekasi official dismissed

JAKARTA (JP): Bekasi Mayor H. Nonon Sonthanie dismissed a Bojong Rawa Lumbu subdistrict official on Thursday for deliberately hindering the processing of local resident's identification cards.

The mayoralty spokesman Cecep Sutandi said yesterday that the dismissal was intended mainly to demonstrate to the public that the mayoralty administration was determined to improve the services it provides.

"The mayor has been directly monitoring activities at district and subdistrict offices to check that corrupt practices were not hindering the issue of identification cards ," Cecep was quoted by Antara as having said.

The decision to fire the official, identified only as AS, was taken following a report from Bekasi Timur district head Heri Lukman Tohari that AS had deliberately withheld data necessary to process the cards.

"Civil servants are here to serve the public, not be served," the mayor said.

The dismissal of AS, who was a contract worker and not a permanent government employee, is a stern warning to other government officials not to violate their responsibilities in dealings with the public. (hhr)