Ginandjar says bureaucracy must be modernized

Ginandjar says bureaucracy must be modernized

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia must modernize its bureaucracy if it
wants its development programs to be successful, Minister of
National Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita said
yesterday.

Ginandjar said modern bureaucracies were more concerned with
values than high-tech equipment in meeting rising public demands.

He said that only professionals should get jobs in the
bureaucracy because they had to work transparently, with
accountability and common sense.

"It means that they must maintain the spirit of honesty,
justice and righteousness, because these will draw respect from
the public and improve their dignity," he added.

He said various studies had proven that sub-standard
bureaucracies derailed development programs.

Ginandjar was speaking in a three-day national seminar on
administrative reforms, which was opened yesterday by President
Soeharto. The seminar is held by the Ministry of Administrative
Reforms, the National Institute of Administration, the National
Archives Agency and the Institute of State Personnel
Administration.

Indonesia, Ginandjar said, had set its sights on becoming an
industrialized country by the end of the second long-term
development program in 2018.

The country is expected to have 7 percent annual economic
growth and an annual population growth rate below 1 percent.

This economic growth rate would increase Indonesia's
purchasing power parity to US$2 trillion, making it the world's
fifth or sixth economic power, Ginandjar said.

He said a stronger middle class, a successful poverty
alleviation program, an increased life expectancy to 71 years,
the rule of law and better conservation of the environment would
follow successful economic development.

Challenges

Ginandjar said the bureaucracy should be able to mobilize the
maximum potential of society.

"Bureaucracy should serve as the avant guard of changes and
lead society to improvement," he said.

He said the bureaucracy was facing its toughest challenges in
finding out what kind of bureaucracy the country needed to help
its people reach their ideals and how would it evolve into such a
bureaucracy.

"People's lives have become very dynamic and they will
frequently cause changes," he warned.

He suggested that the bureaucracy come up with recommendations
for facing future challenges.

"It is worth thinking that our bureaucracy needs, for example,
to be trimmed, to have tougher qualifications and clearer job
descriptions rather than better salaries," he said.

There are 3.5 million people in the country's bureaucracy.

Ginandjar said that cutting back on staff was as hard as
raising bureaucrats' salaries.

The government increased the salaries of civil servants,
including bureaucrats, by between 34 percent and 73 percent in
the 1997/1998 state budget.

Another speaker Lilik Hendrajaya, the rector of the state-run
Bandung Institute of Technology, said that civil servants needed
higher wages because many were seeking to supplement low pay with
money from travel expenses and moonlighting.

He suggested that the bureaucracy be divided into two groups
according to staff skills. The lower group would comprise people
with general skills and the upper group consist of people with
expertise. (amd)