Bekasi official dismissed

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)