Governor Sutiyoso to fire city-owned firms' executives

JAKARTA (JP): City Governor Sutiyoso threatened to dismiss executives of city-owned companies who continued to suffer losses and could not contribute to the city's income in the next few years.

"We will evaluate your positions if you are unable to reach the set targets," Sutiyoso told the executives during a meeting on Thursday night.

He said he would not hesitate to dismiss them if, based on his evaluation, they could not reach company targets.

He said that the meeting was conducted following criticism from city councillors who expressed concerned over the companies' poor performance.

Meanwhile city administrative assistant Makmun Amin said the executives' performance would still be evaluated even if Sutiyoso was not reelected next year.

"Sutiyoso's policy will be continued by his successor," Makmun told reporters on Friday.

During the plenary session on Monday, many factions in the city criticized the city-owned firms for their lack of contribution to the city's revenue.

In the session factions evaluated Sutiyoso's accountability speech on the 2000 city budget presented by the governor last month.

The factions alleged that the companies suffered continuous losses as they were being used by certain officials "as milking cows".

Despite the criticisms, the majority of the factions accepted the accountability speech and only two minor factions rejected it.

Taxes and levies contributed 70 percent to the Rp 4.8 trillion city budget while the remaining 30 percent came from the city- owned companies.

According to Sutiyoso the companies only reached 80 percent of their target income, last year.

The city administration has 25 companies and joint venture companies. Only some of them contribute to the city's income, including market operator PD Pasar Jaya, recreational operator and developer PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol.

Some others still suffered losses due to their huge debt, including city tap water companies PAM Jaya, tourism firm PT Wisata Niaga, developer PT Pembangunan Sarana Jaya and slaughter house PD Dharma Jaya.

Besides the firms, the city also has several agencies which were expected to contribute to city income. However, some of them, including the city's parking agency BP Parkir, are still being subsidized.

The city administration plans to hand over the management of BP Parkir to two private companies to handle the city's parking facilities in an effort to generate more income. (jun)