Have a problem? Write to the governor

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)