Mataram Mayor Mohan Bans City Agencies from Recruiting New Casual Staff

Mataram Mayor Mohan Roliskana has strictly prohibited all regional apparatus organisations (OPD) within the Mataram City Government from recruiting new casual staff. The ban was reinforced because the city’s personnel expenditure remains above the ideal threshold set by the central government.

‘Let there be no further additions. We have communicated to the OPD ranks that there will be no appointment of new casual staff,’ Mohan asserted during an interview at the Mataram Mayor’s Office on Tuesday.

Mohan stressed that the policy halting the recruitment of casual workers is final and cannot be negotiated under any pretext. ‘We are no longer recruiting casual staff, because it is no longer possible to do so,’ he said.

According to Mohan, the Mataram City Government is currently striving to reduce the proportion of personnel spending to reach the 30 percent figure stipulated by the central government. ‘Whatever the reason, it is not possible to do that (recruit casual staff). Because we are striving to be in the 30 percent position. Our spending is currently above that. Our current effort to reach the 30 percent position is not easy either,’ he continued.

The ban on recruiting new casual staff aligns with central government regulations. The Ministry of Home Affairs previously emphasised that regional governments are no longer permitted to recruit casual staff because personnel spending in most regions still exceeds the limit. The regulation refers to Law Number 1 of 2022 concerning Financial Relations between the Central Government and Regional Governments (HKPD). Under this legal statute, the central government has set a maximum personnel expenditure of 30 percent of the total regional budget (APBD).

Amidst the policy halting casual recruitment, the Mataram City Government continues to propose formations for Civil Service Candidates (CPNS) and Government Employees with Work Agreements (PPPK). However, the number of formation requests this year is far fewer than in previous years. The Mataram City Government has only proposed 200 formations, taking into account the region’s financial capacity. In prior years, the city government had proposed up to 600 formations for both CPNS and PPPK.

‘We have proposed 200 formations, both for civil servants and PPPK. We have submitted the formation requests through the applications of the BKN and the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform. We are now waiting for verification from the centre,’ said Mataram City Regional Secretary Lalu Alwan Basri.

Alwan stated that the size of personnel spending is one of the primary factors behind the reduced number of state civil apparatus formation requests within the Mataram City Government. Additionally, the HKPD regulation on financial relations between the central and regional governments also prevents the city from proposing formations in large numbers as before. ‘We are looking at the region’s financial capacity, especially with the HKPD stipulating the 30 percent limit, which we must also consider. Hopefully, this can be considered further,’ he concluded.