City Hall workers ignore Sutiyoso warning

JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of city administration employees paid no heed on Friday to Governor Sutiyoso's warning of punishment for those failing to show up for work after the Idul Fitri holiday.

In a scene played out every year after the post-fasting month celebration, most City Hall offices were deserted except for two or three employees.

Sutiyoso himself could not be reached to confirm whether he would carry through on his threat of punitive action against the absentees.

He left for Semarang, Central Java, on Friday morning to pay his respects to his family, a source in the administration's protocol affairs division said.

Thousands of employees showed up on Thursday morning as the governor, City Council Speaker Edy Waluyo and other high-ranking officials set aside time to greet their subordinates.

But most quickly left the office after the exchange of greetings, and long before the 4 p.m. end of office hours.

As it is customary for employees to extend their designated Idul Fitri holiday despite the governor's threats of punishment each year, the source said it would be better for the administration to grant them a week off.

"It can be regulated, for instance, by appointing several employees to be on duty in rotation during the mass leave," said the source, who asked to remain anonymous.

Head of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute Apong Herlina seconded the mass leave proposal.

Apong said there was no use in the governor's "threats" because employees ignored them every year.

"We can see that in addition to the employees not respecting the warning, the governor himself is not acting in accordance with them by going away.

"The employees also witness that punishment has never been really implemented to violators. It is a kind of practice of disregarding the law."

She believed it would not be difficult for Sutiyoso to exact punishment if he were sincere in his warnings.

"For instance, for those who did not show up, their vacation period (12 days annually) could be cut for the same amount of days they did not show up."

Although the Idul Fitri holiday fell on Tuesday and Wednesday, most employees of state and private companies have time off through Monday. (ind)