City to discipline offidials extending Idul Fitri holiday
City to discipline offidials extending Idul Fitri holiday
JAKARTA (JP): Th city officials who did not return to work
directly after Idul Fitri will be disciplined, Deputy Governor
for Administrative Affairs Idroes said yesterday.
He said he had ordered all heads of the city administration
offices and agencies to "take stern action against delinquent
officials".
"It's the duty of all heads of offices and agencies to take
action," Idroes said.
According to city personnel supervision data, the maximum
penalty for an unexplained absence is a harsh warning from a unit
chief.
Head of the city's inspectorate office, Djoko Brotosurjono,
said yesterday his office had monitored attendance over the first
three days after Idul Fitri and had submitted a report to the
governor yesterday.
The governor would release the content of the report, he said.
Djoko said the monitoring found that some officials did not
show up for work.
"The situation was back to normal on Thursday, with only five
percent of officials reporting late for duty on that day," he
said.
A member of the House of Representatives suggested the
government declare Idul Fitri a five-day holiday, on the grounds
that government offices remained empty two or three days after
the official holidays.
Another "realistic" idea was aired by East Java Governor
Basofi Sudirman, formerly a deputy governor of Jakarta. He
suggested civil servants be given extra holidays over Idul Fitri.
The suggestion was based on the fact that few people demand
services during the Idul Fitri holiday.
Central Jakarta Mayor Abdul Kahfi disagreed. "Civil servants
must be ready as soon as the Idul Fitri holiday is over."
Jakarta Governor Surjadi Soedirdja has made numerous appeals
to city officials to comply with the national discipline movement
by setting a good example on discipline.
On Tuesday, many City Hall officials went to work in the
morning only to deliver Idul Fitri greetings to the governor and
their colleagues. Soon after, most returned home.
Five thousand of the administration's 76,000 civil servants
work at City Hall.
Djoko said the three-day evaluation found most officials
showed up to work, but left early.
"Even though the officials did show up in the morning, they
will still be given warnings for leaving the office early," he
said.
Normally, City Hall operates from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday
to Thursday, and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday.
Djoko said the office would conduct a thorough evaluation of
the officials unexplained absences and reasons for arriving late.
"We will understand if they have logical explanation for
coming late to the office," Djoko said.
He said officials had to fulfill their duty to provide
services to the public.
"Fortunately, nobody asked for public services.. maybe they
were still visiting relatives," Djoko said.
He said all his officials showed up yesterday except those on
leave, sick or on assignment.
The inspectorate office and the city public order office have
conducted random operations by checking officials' work
attendance to improve civil servants' discipline.
In 1995, 440 tardy officials were netted in the operation.
(ste)