Civil servants

Civil servants

I am writing this letter in response to the article you ran in
The Jakarta Post entitled Civil servants lack incentive,
competence, dated Nov. 20, 1995. I would like to congratulate the
Post on running this article on the realities of the status of
government employees in Indonesia and the difficulties
encountered in dealing with them.

There has been a strong push recently by top government
officials for foreign companies to invest in Indonesia, yet this
same support for upholding basic laws concerning corruption,
collusion and the relationship between businesses and the
government is conspicuously lacking. This situation makes many
foreign investors loath to enter the Indonesian market and many
that do quickly jump back out after running up against the
innumerable obstacles involved in doing business here.

I believe the article gives a realistic illustration of the
complexities involved in this situation, but obviously must skirt
a few obvious marks in order to remain publishable in the current
political climate. I would like to call for any government
officials to comment on this story and this sad situation. It is
a major stumbling block, nay a wall, that Indonesia must break
down before it is to fully accepted in the world of business.

Name and address

known to editor