KDM Claims to Have Implemented WFH, Highlights Bloated Bureaucracy

West Java Governor (Jabar) Dedi Mulyadi, commonly known as KDM, stated that his team has implemented work from home, or WFH, for a long time. “We’ve been running WFH since way back, and it’s effective. Just look at the development products—successful or not,” he said at the Gedung Sate in Bandung, West Java, on Monday (30/3). He noted that despite WFH, budget expenditure realisation exceeded expectations. KDM added that this WFH initiative aims to save and optimise the budget. Meanwhile, WFH for civil servants or ASN in West Java, according to KDM, has been running every Thursday. According to him, the effectiveness of ASN performance cannot be measured solely by physical presence in the office, but by development programmes felt by the public. The success of this WFH scheme, he said, is proof that West Java’s bureaucracy remains productive even if not all work in conventional office spaces. He pointed out that the current problem is the bloated bureaucratic structure in the managerial ranks. The number of officials in structural positions is disproportionate to the technical staff, who are the spearhead of public services and still insufficient. “We have more structural positions, more functions that order rather than those that do the work,” KDM explained. He stated that he will carry out a transformation by increasing the portion of staff working on technical services. KDM said that with this, policies will not just stop at coordination tables but will be executed in the field.