Offices quiet on first day of fasting
Offices quiet on first day of fasting
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A young civil servant slouched over his desk on Wednesday morning
on the second floor of a government building near City Hall,
taking a brief nap in the nearly empty room where only four other
civil servants could be seen at their desks.
The other 20 desks dotted around the room were empty.
Two of the other civil servants in the room were enjoying a
leisurely chat, while another was busy at his computer -- playing
a game.
"The first three days of the fasting month are usually the
hardest in terms of fighting the thirst and hunger. It is better
for me just to sleep during these three days," the young civil
servant told The Jakarta Post.
It is not uncommon for civil servants to fail to turn up for
work on the first day of Ramadhan, or for those who do come to
the office not to get much done.
"That always happens. Many civil servants fail to show up in
the morning. Some even fail to come in at all," a senior official
grumbled.
The Post watched on Wednesday morning at City Hall as civil
servants began to trickle in at 9:30 a.m. Normally, civil
servants begin work at 7:30 a.m., but the administration has
allowed government workers to come to the office at 8 a.m. during
the fasting month.
This problem of tardy civil servants was not limited to City
Hall, with other government offices in the city coming to a
virtual halt on the first day of Ramadhan, including the Central
Jakarta Municipal Office on Jl. Tanah Abang II in Central
Jakarta.
When the Post took its unofficial tour of the building, only
two officials were spotted in the Central Jakarta Assets Office,
four officials in the Regional Administration Office, three in
the Finance Bureau and five in the General Affairs Bureau.
No information was available on how many officials are
normally in these offices.
Those people who were in the office did not seem to get much
accomplished during the morning, before taking a 90-minute lunch
break.
At 3 p.m. the civil servants were allowed to go home, a perk
from the administration which allows government workers to leave
the office an hour earlier than normal during the fasting month.
Governor Sutiyoso expressed his disappointment upon hearing
that many government workers arrived late to the office on
Wednesday or did not come in at all.
"They will be punished. I will sanction them. I cannot
tolerate this," he said.
Sanctions could range from delayed raises to the suspension of
promotions.