Many people frustrated over poor public services

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A number of Jakartans have expressed frustration over poor public services provided by the city administration and that their complaints are frequently ignored by both the executive and legislature.

Some said that many officials or agencies were reluctant to serve poor people, although some services were free of charge for them.

Wartin, a member of the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC), related what she experienced during the flooding in February, when she was denied treatment at Tarakan hospital because she failed to pay.

"I was informed that I should have a kartu sehat (health card) for obtaining health services free of charge. But they still would not treat me even though I showed them the card," said Wartin at a discussion on public services here on Monday.

She said that similar experiences were also recounted by a number of her friends.

The city administration previously announced that all people who were sick due to the flooding could be treated free of charge at any hospital in the capital. The administration would pay all the expenses.

Meanwhile, trader at ITC Mangga Dua, North Jakarta, J. Sianipar complained about having his electricity supply cut off from his shop in the shopping center by PT Duta Pertiwi, manager and developer of the ITC building.

He said that the management cut off the electricity after he refused to pay the continuously increasing tariffs. He said that the management hiked the service charge for electricity supply without prior consultation with traders.

"In July 2001, the service charge for electricity was only Rp 900,000, but a month later it jumped to Rp 1,100,000. Since then, the developer has continued to increase the charge until it reached Rp 1,400,000 in February this year," he asserted.

He said he had reported his complaint to the governor and the city council but so far had got no response from the authorities.

Another ITC trader, David Getarin, complained about the loss of public facilities, such as a parking lot, converted by PT Duta Pertiwi into kiosks and other business facilities.

"We have reported the cases to various agencies, including the city council, but they all seem to be powerless," David added.

Member of the city council from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) Binsar Tambunan said that the agencies responsible for public services had remained untouched by the reform process.

According to Binsar, many bylaws had been established by the city council in cooperation with the city administration to improve public services.

But he noted that those bylaws had failed to improve services as only a few bureaucrats were aware that they were public servants, who should therefore serve the interests of the public.