Kamra members plead for help

Kamra members plead for help

By Winahyo Soekanto

DENPASAR (JP): Some 40,000 members of the People's Security
(Kamra) force across the country may on Dec. 31 lose their low-
paying jobs with the cessation of their two-year work contract.
Where will they go and what will they do?

The potential social problem caused by the loss of employment
of the Kamra members - many of whom were recruited precisely
because they were hooligans and had to be kept off the streets -
is an example of the consequences when a government too
frequently resorts to ad hoc and temporary measures.

Some of the more outspoken Kamra members - who are paid a
subsistence of Rp 300,000 per month - have in their respective
regions staged demonstrations demanding an explanation as to how
the government will help them. The most recent expression of
concern was made by eleven Kamra members who, accompanied by
Yogyakarta governor, Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, visited the House
of Representatives in Jakarta. They demanded that they be
recruited into the Indonesian Military (TNI), police or civil
service.

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso responded to the demands by
promising to recruit the soon-to-be ex-Kamra members as hansip
(civilian guards).

Ironically, neither the police, who for the past two years
have been the "user" of Kamra members, nor the defense ministry,
which organized the force, has declared any plans for the Kamra.

This is despite the fact that a large section of the public
has felt the benefit of the presence of Kamra members--they have
been in the front line trying to control brawls, helping to ease
chronic traffic congestions and many others.

In addition, the police force has turned Kamra members into
all-round helpers - for office administrative work, as couriers
to transport criminal evidence from one place to another, or to
escort prisoners.

The government established Kamra as part of its social safety
net program, recruiting people from crisis-hit sections of the
community and giving them employment. Skepticism initially
greeted the policy, as well as fears that the Kamra members would
serve only as the henchmen of the security authorities (the
military and the police).

They turned out doing a good job, giving the credit, however,
to the police whose reputation as a corrupt force could not be
worse as indicated in an Asian Wall Street Journal report last
October.

The Indonesian police - one of the four law enforcement bodies
along with prosecutors, judges and legal counsels, as well as the
public security apparatus - has yet to be rid of its poor image
resulting from decades of subordination by the military.

The Presidential Instruction No. 2/1999 released the police
from the military but the police force seems to be still unsure
of itself, a fact which presumably comes from years of dependence
on the military leadership.

Two other major problems have been identified for poor police
performance, namely their poor human resources and limited
numbers as well as a severe lack of funds.

The ideal proportion of police officers to the population is
1: 200-300, which means that one policeman is assigned to
safeguard only 200 to 300 people. In Indonesia, the prevailing
ratio is 1 : 1,400 and observers say it will take the country 30
years to reach the ideal figure.

No wonder the police appear to be helpless when they have to
handle crimes committed by military members. They became the
national laughing stock when convicted tycoon Hutomo "Tommy"
Mandala Putra escaped his jail sentence and disappeared without a
trace.

How then will the police answer the question on the future of
40,000 Kamra members?

The government must cease its habit of making temporary, ad
hoc policies for problems that are by nature lengthy and need
thought-out solutions. Quick-fix solutions have been proven time
and again to create fresh problems later on.

The government must also learn to keep its own words and
respect the people who are the "customers" of its policies.
Formal work arrangements have its own rules and regulations,
including fair termination arrangements. The Kamra members are
bound to a work contract so the termination of this contract
should be arranged fairly.

Hernando de Soto, a Peruvian who was once an advisor to former
president Alberto Fujimori, said widespread poverty in many
developing countries was attributable to a legal system that
failed to respect the poor people's ownership of land, property
and work.

It is the government's responsibility to eradicate poverty, so
it should respect and appreciate the work contract and the
sacrifices made over the past two years by Kamra members.

The government can actually employ the Kamra members to
augment the ratio of police to population, turn them into
"parapolice" and thus improve its public service. Certainly the
government does not need to apply requirements that are for the
recruitment of "real" police.

The public has proven its ability to differentiate between the
police and these "parapolice" whose main function is to help
maintain security and order rather than being part of the
criminal justice system.

We can then expect the public to realize that the Kamra are
not police but part of the police force with a different mandate.

The Kamra can then be turned into "a civilian face" of the
police force because the public realizes that Kamra are indeed
civilians. This might help police win back public trust that it
had lost over the years.

In addition, recruitment of the Kamra members could be done on
a smaller budget. This should be a better alternative to
recruiting a large number of new police cadets - a process that
actually needs to be overhauled to free it from bribe-taking and
nepotistic practices as well as have it adhere to a merit system.

The Kamra or "parapolice" would then be able to maintain their
usefulness in the public service sector, and with greater
enthusiasm should the government declare their service as an in-
service training before recruitment into the police force.

The writer is a lawyer based in Denpasar.