Jakarta struggles to discipline its residents

Jakarta struggles to discipline its residents

By Wahyudi M. Pratopo

JAKARTA (JP): Lax discipline among its residents seems to be the most serious ailment the capital city suffers from.

Efforts to create a sense of public discipline have been made, but the results are still far from encouraging.

This year, a remarkable step was taken by the administration to stiffen discipline among all layers of society - the nationwide discipline drive officially launched by President Soeharto on May 20, coinciding with National Awakening Day. Jakarta was chosen as the site for the pilot project.

Sponsored by the military, the administration announced the discipline month in June by appealing to government officials, military and police officers as well as the general public to observe basic elements of discipline, including queuing, putting litter in its proper place, obeying traffic regulations and being punctual.

The use of the Indonesian language, especially on billboards and names of restaurants, hotels and other businesses, was also an objective of the discipline campaign.

Maj. Gen. Wiranto, the city military commander, "hoisted the banner of discipline" by deploying a total of 4,000 personnel, from June 21 onwards.

City administration officials, militarymen, police officers, judges and prosecutors are all involved in the discipline operation, which is still in full swing.

The result: More than 14,000 people were caught and fined for jaywalking, littering and other violations in the initial two months.

Street vendors, vagrants, prostitutes, drunkards and traffic violators were netted and fined between Rp 3,000 and Rp 30,000.

The "language campaign" was pursued together with the discipline operation.

More than 400 billboards using foreign languages, mostly English, have been pulled down, and more than 300 names of hotels, restaurants and housing complexes have been changed into Indonesian.

The city public order officials have also dismantled more than 5,100 expired billboards and illegal street banners between July and August.

Evaluations of the discipline drive were made in August and November.

"Discipline has yet to catch on in Jakarta," was the comment of the discipline drive 'commander', Maj. Gen. Wiranto.

A similar opinion was voiced by the Vice Governor for Administrative Affairs, Idroes. He said the discipline campaign had not made any significant impact to order in the city.

However, that does not spell the end for the drive at the city administration. "To change public habits takes time," Idroes has pointed out.

Wiranto said that the quality of human resources is related to the level of discipline.

Therefore Wiranto mobilized 15,000 youth organization members to join in the next discipline drive, which officially began on Nov. 11.

The youths are expected to become pioneers and to set a good example to the public by reminding the public to obey, among other things, traffic regulations. "But we do not mean to make people the objects of the discipline drive," Wiranto said.

Positive response to the drive came from Chairman of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, Luhut M.P. Pangaribuan. He said that national discipline campaign is a good idea since the it will enhance public awareness of the law.

He said simultaneous drives would be better to make discipline more deeply engrained in public behavior.

"Sporadic and incidental programs never did any good," he said. He cited several incidental and reactive programs, including the massive operation against street hoodlums which was staged after a police officer and an army general were stabbed to death by a group of street hoodlums.

Luhut said that the discipline campaign needs a comprehensive approach and should be backed up by adequate resources and the necessary political will from the government.

Luhut criticized that mobilization of youth organization members in the drive to discipline the public, saying it is prone to abuses. "Many of the youths tend to behave arbitrarily," he said. Some of them meted out physical punishment, which they legally do not have the right to do, Luhut added.

He said such abuses might make the discipline drive counter- productive.

Some people have also complained about the enforcers themselves.

Among the protesters are students of the Indonesian Christian University in East Jakarta. They said the discipline enforcers have no right to punish discipline violators in any way.

Another protest was from street vendors grouped in the Independent Vendors Communication Forum. They complained to the National Commission of Human Rights about arbitrary treatment by officials and discipline enforcers.

A vendor said he was hit again and again by discipline enforcers. Another vendor said a discipline enforcer poured hot water onto his body and asked money for his release.

Several vendors said the South Jakarta mayoralty officials gave them nothing to eat while they were detained for three days in the mayoralty office.

Herliyanto, who works at a private company, said that the discipline operation did not treat violators evenhandedly. "When I got off a bus with other passengers at an improper place, it was only I who was charged as a discipline violator," he said.

He questioned the procedure of discipline operation since he was not ticketed when an official took his ID card. "The official only asked me to take my ID card at the Military District office," he said.

Maj. Gen. Wiranto had earlier reminded the volunteers that they have no rights to punish violators and must avoid violence in their actions.

"Deviant members of the discipline force will be fired," he warned.

This warning should be acted on in a strict manner so that the discipline campaign is not tarnished by a few rogue elements. The authorities must take stern and real action against those who tarnish the discipline campaign.

Lawyer Luhut said that target of discipline campaign must be all layers of society, not only street vendors, pedestrians, and public transportation drivers and passengers, he said.

Government officials should display discipline first, he said, since, culturally, people tend to follow their leaders. "People need models."

Questions about the level of discipline among officials and civil servants have long been raised.

The latest record may answer the question: Between five to seven percent of city hall employees are tardy.