Civil servants's savings gone?

Civil servants's savings gone?

From Kompas

Civil Servants (PNS) are subjected to compulsory housing savings through the monthly salary withholding of Rp 3,000 for group I, Rp 5,000 for group II, Rp 7,000 for group III and Rp 10,000 for group IV. On average, Rp 6,250 is withheld monthly from the salaries of all civil servants in Indonesia. Based on 1995 data, Indonesia's PNS numbers reached 4,044,703 people. If this number is multiplied by the average sum of monthly savings, the result is Rp 25,279,393,750 (about US$2.5 million) each and every month, let alone a year, two years etc.

It is surprising that applications for housing construction submitted by rightful civil servants have almost never been approved, not to mention the bureaucratic red tape, which makes fund disbursement uncertain. Bapertarum/BTN (state savings bank) is just the most favored party because such a large amount is sure to be received monthly. Where have the PNS savings gone to? Are they allocated to other projects, deliberately misused or loaned to the business sector?

If the funds are evenly distributed to provinces, each should get about Rp 800 million per month, which can be used to build 32 PNS housing units at Rp 25 million per unit, or 384 units in a year. This number will multiply in five or ten years.

The use of the money must be questioned as the savings belong to PNS. Perhaps the Civil Servants Corps should also explain itself as it is the organization responsible for channeling the aspirations of civil servants but it has given no explanation about the savings, nor has it struggled for its members.

BAHARUDIN

Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan