Misleading ad due to 'poor coordination'

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso admitted on Tuesday that shoddy coordination between the city administration and the Ministry of Home Affairs was behind the publication of a job vacancy advertisement which misled hundreds of job seekers.

Acknowledging it was caused by "bad coordination between us", Sutiyoso said the Sept. 12 advertisement's recruitment figures were based on outdated ministry data from last year.

According to the advertisement, the ministry planned to recruit 7,204 people to work in both central government and local administrations. It said the Jakarta administration alone would recruit 318 people.

"I have to reiterate now that the city administration will not accept new recruits this year. About 1,000 vacancies available last year have all been filled," he said.

"We will only recruit new employees after the battered economic condition recovers."

About 200 job applicants had their hopes dashed last Thursday when they learned the administration had no plans to recruit new staff.

Administration officials tried to shift blame onto each other when applicants demanded clarification on the snafu.

Adjat Wiraatmadja, head of the city's employee affairs bureau, claimed his office had asked the city's public relations bureau to place a new advertisement to clear up the misunderstanding over the earlier ad.

Instead, the public relations bureau posted clarification notices at City Hall.

Head of the public relations bureau Kamaludin Santos denied that he was instructed to place advertisements.

Asked whether the administration sent notification to the ministry, Sutiyoso said: "The fact was that the advertisement suddenly appeared in the newspapers even though the one who knew precisely (about new recruitment) was actually me."

The governor steered clear of stating the ministry was to blame and should apologize. "I can't say that the ministry was wrong," he said. (ind)