Have a problem? Write to the governor

JAKARTA (JP): Jakartans are invited to write letters of complaint directly to Governor Surjadi Soedirdja if they can prove that city officials are making things difficult for them or imposing illegal levies for services rendered.

"I will not open any post boxes. They can send the correspondence directly to me," Surjadi told reporters yesterday at City Hall after delivering his speech at the City Council on a bill on the excess budget for the 1993-94 fiscal year.

While acknowledging that illegal levies could not be instantly and easily eradicated, Surjadi also warned that those who wanted to report should not exaggerate their cases. Instead, he said, they should give clear-cut evidence which can be used to prove that the officials are guilty of the charges.

Soesila Darmoadji, the spokesman for the city administration, added that the city administration would make sure that the names and addresses of those who wrote in to the governor would remain confidential.

Red-tape and illegal levies were brought to surface after West Jakarta Mayor Sutardjianto told reporters at City Hall last Friday that his office had taken action against one of the officials in the mayoralty's team for controlling the city's construction development (Pengawas Pembangunan Kota). The official was found to have asked those who wanted to get building permits for illegal payments (pungli).

Sutardjianto, however, did not clearly specify the "action" applied to the officer. He also did not disclose the officer's name.

"If not delaying his promotion, we demoted him. I can't remember," he said, before taking part in the limited municipal meeting to discuss the city's Program for Underdeveloped Villages with the governor at the City Hall.

There have been many reports in the media concerning officers of the city's construction development control who are charging inflated fees for people applying for building permits. Allegedly, they have made the fees tens of times higher than the official rates for acquiring such permits. (arf)