Civil servants asked to change work status

Civil servants asked to change work status

JAKARTA (JP): About 1,000 civil servants employed in six of
the seven city-owned firms will be invited to relinquish their
status and become regular staff members of the companies, a
senior official said on Monday.

Those wishing to remain civil servants will be removed to the
city administration office, head of the employee affairs bureau
of the city administration Adjat Wiraatmadja said.

The plan is designed to speed up the administration's agenda
to professionalize the firms.

"We hope the plan could be carried out in stages beginning at
the end of this year, and we'll choose only the well-prepared
companies first," he said.

The companies will be allowed to recruit their own employees
in the event all 1,000 civil servants decide to retain their
status.

The six enterprises are construction and city asset
supervision firm PD Sarana Jaya, slaughterhouse operator PD
Dharma Jaya, market management firm PD Pasar Jaya, hotel and
tourism company PD Wisata Niaga Jaya, tap water firm PDAM Jaya
and waste water management company PD Pal Jaya.

The city administration, which has a total of 70,000 civil
servants, also runs Bank DKI, which is excluded from the program.

Adjat said the plan was based on a 1994 Minister of Home
Affairs decree which regulated that companies run by provincial
administrations and planning to be professional firms should not
hire civil servants as their employees.

Although conceding that civil servants had a poor public
image, he believed the scheme might spur them to better
professionalism.

"Many people have often experienced their poor service," Adjat
said.

"It is strongly hoped that, under the scheme, the employees of
city-run companies could show better performance."

In the scheme's early stages, top executives of the companies
will not be included, he said. (ind)