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.