Little change seen in city's public service program

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Ismail, 53, was not aware that his subdistrict was one of the 50 that had received Rp 1 billion (US$101,010) early this year from the city administration in a pilot project to improve public services in the city.

He had, however, noticed several cosmetic changes in Neighborhood Unit 5, Community Unit 8 in Rawabunga, East Jakarta, where he lives.

New brooms, waste carts, and rubbish scoops had been placed in the community unit office, he said, and free food and drinks were now available for residents who carried out monthly voluntary work -- cleaning small drains, sports fields and other areas in the neighborhood.

Previously, residents had to prepare their own meals before carrying out such activities, Ismail said on Sunday.

"I just found out from you (The Jakarta Post) about the pilot project. All I knew was that my Neighborhood Unit receives some Rp 800,000 and several sanitation tools from subdistrict office annually."

Elsewhere, the head of Community Unit 7, Neighborhood Unit 1 in Semanan, Kalideres, West Jakarta, 45-year-old Romli Umar, confirmed his subdistrict had recently received Rp 1 billion from the administration.

"I was informed about the fund when I had a meeting in the Kalideres District Office recently. During the meeting, our district head warned subdistrict heads that they would be jailed if they could not manage the fund properly," Romli said.

Romli did not know, however, what the money was supposed to be used for. All he knew was that there were many new flower pots placed in several parts of his neighborhood. He also noted more security guards had been hired by the subdistrict for his community unit.

Under the project guidelines, subdistrict and district heads are required spend Rp 1 billion to improve conditions in five areas -- public services, public order, community health, the environment and administrative affairs. However, each head is allowed to set independent priorities based on the conditions of their areas.

Next year, the administration plans to carry out the public service improvement program in all 267 subdistricts and 44 districts in the city, although one official admitted the office had not carried out any comprehensive evaluations of what the money should be spent on, a necessary prerequisite for properly monitoring the scheme.

If the administration went ahead with the program, every subdistrict would receive Rp 1.7 billion annually, while each district would receive Rp 4 billion.

Both Ismail and Romli said they had noticed some small changes in their subdistricts, but had seen no marked improvements in the many other public services district-level offices were supposed to provide.

"I have seen no (major) changes, it's business as usual. Officials still ask for small amounts of money from residents who need services, like extensions to their identity cards, although such services are free of charge based on existing regulations," Ismail said.

Sonar Butar Butar, 55, a resident of Kapuk subdistrict in West Jakarta, another pilot area, said the major problems in his neighborhood remained urgent.

"The sanitation of our neighborhood is still very bad. There has been no money (given) for sanitation improvements from the subdistrict office ... I also do not see any other new programs," said Sonar, who has lived in Neighborhood Unit 12, Community Unit 16, for about 15 years.