Call 0811109949, Susilo will answer

Call 0811109949, Susilo will answer

Rendi Witular, The Jakarta Post, Purwakarta, West Java

For those of you who find the notoriously inept bureaucracy is
posing a stumbling block in seeking a solution to your problems,
add 0811109949 to your phonebook and the President will lend a
helping hand.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Saturday he was
prepared to listen to people's complaints through his cellular
phone if they found that government officials failed to heed
them.

"If you think (government officials) don't care, never come to
you and your problems are left unsettled, my cellular phone is
active 24 hours a day," Susilo told farmers and fishermen
attending a ceremony to mark the launch of the Agriculture,
Fisheries and Forestry Revitalization Program at Jatiluhur dam
here.

The last four digits of the President's cellular phone number
denote his date of birth.

Susilo said people could talk to him or just text him via
short messaging service (SMS).

Has anybody managed to reach the President or had his or her
complaint been heeded? A teacher in the Central Java town of Pati
has proven that the President listens.

Susilo said the teacher told him through SMS recently that his
salary had been withheld for four months.

The President said he verified the complaint with Minister of
National Education Bambang Sudibyo, who found that the teacher's
December 2004 salary had been transferred but he had not received
his payment for three months because the money had not been
disbursed by the central government for an unspecified reason.

Upon receiving the President's response, the teacher suggested
that the government pay the arrears all at once.

The teacher sent another message to Susilo when he discovered
his request was not fulfilled. "You told me I would get my
salary," Susilo quoted the teacher as saying in his message, to
the laughter of the audience.

The President said the calls or messages would serve as his
"eyes and ears" to know what problems the people are facing.

However, he warned people against telling him slanderous or
inaccurate information.

The President also stressed that government officials had to
go to the field to see the real situation and troubles their
people were facing.

"Keep going to the field, meet people, and spend a night there
if necessary," Susilo said.

"I don't like to hear of officials going abroad instead of
visiting their people. Overseas trips are sometimes needed to
lure investment, make a comparative study or enhance skills."

Government officials should not distance themselves from the
people, Susilo added.

"Never act only to make the president happy, the governor
happy. It's the people who should be happy," he asserted.

Susilo recently gathered all governors and rapped them over
the knuckles for neglecting health problems among the poor.

The gathering followed media reports of malnutrition affected
children in some provinces. At least 11 children below five years
of age have died of severe malnutrition in West Nusa Tenggara and
East Nusa Tenggara provinces.