Competition essential to improve public service

Competition essential to improve public service

JAKARTA (JP): Creating competition among public utilities
companies and governmental institutions is required to improve
the quality of public services, State Minister of Administrative
Reforms T.B. Silalahi said here yesterday.

"Overhead costs of our economy is increasing and most of the
costs are used to bribe officials... although not all of our
officials accept bribes," Silalahi said at a seminar held at
Sangri-La Hotel.

"Just go to the Jakarta administration office to obtain a
number of letters, you will notice how many 'tables' you have to
deal with. In the end, after a tiring process, an official will
tell you: 'let's just resolve the matter at the Hilton',"
Silalahi said.

Therefore, Silalahi asserted that the bureaucracy needs to be
run with competition. He explained that such competition can be
created by, among others, giving incentives and disincentives to
public servants through their salaries.

"So far we give annual salary increases to public servants
without reckoning their performances. And now, we are considering
of giving real salary increases or bonuses only to those who make
accomplishment," Silalahi said.

He acknowledged, however, that the low-level salaries of
public servants have become the government's main concern
whenever it wants to improve the quality of the bureaucracy.

"How can you expect the best services from such low-paid
public servants... I know your salaries. If you are well-paid and
riding your own cars, you will be more motivated to hunt the best
news, wont' you," Silalahi told journalists.

Last fiscal year, which ended in March, the government
budgeted Rp 13.01 trillion (US$5.7 billion) to pay some four
million civil servants and pensioners, a 19.4 percent increase
from Rp 10.89 trillion in the 1993-1994 fiscal year. This fiscal
year, the government has earmarked Rp 15.35 trillion to pay civil
servants and pensioners.

Silalahi noted that it is necessary to create competition
among state-owned and private public utilities to improve the
quality of public facilities and public services.

Competition

He explained that such competitions can be created between
state companies and state companies or between state companies
and private companies or between private companies and private
companies.

"Competitions can also be created within a public utility
company which has several units or even several subsidiaries,"
Silalahi said. "The state electricity company PT PLN, for
instance, can create competition among its units of services in
various districts."

He added that the Abdisatyabakti service award presented by
President Soeharto to 10 state agencies last month shows the
government's efforts to improve the quality of public services.

"Next year, we target that some 100 units of state agencies
will get such awards and the following year we hope that the
amount of public service units which deserve the awards will
triple," Silalahi said. (rid)