Officials' pay hike

Officials' pay hike

From Media Indonesia

In connection with the plan to increase the salaries of
government officials of the Republic of Indonesia by an average
of 200 percent to 300 percent, I herewith express my disapproval
and would like to suggest the following:

1. The salary of the President and the Vice President need not be
raised because pursuant to Law No. 7/1978, all their needs are
provided for and borne by the government. Besides, the law
stipulates that the salary of the President is six times higher
than that of a high-ranking official, while the Vice President's
salary is four times higher than that of a high-ranking official.

2. The salary of the chairman of a state's highest/high
institution, a minister, deputy chairman of a state's
highest/high institution may be raised by a maximum of 50 percent
because they have been provided with a house and car and their
telephone, electricity and water bills are borne by the
government.

3. The salary of a member of a state's high institution may be
raised by a maximum of 100 percent.

4. As for civil servants, except those of echelon I, their
salaries may be raised in accordance with the government's plan.

Although the rupiah's purchasing power and value have dropped
by 200 percent compared with the condition prior to the onset of
the monetary crisis, an excessive rise in the salaries of state
officials, particularly in the case of the President and the Vice
President, is not proper at this time.

We all know that owing to the crisis, the prices of
commodities have risen by 100 percent to 200 percent while most
community members, including major businesspeople and
professionals have undergone a drop of between 30 percent and 60
percent in their income.

Please do not compare the salaries of state high-ranking
officials with those of executive officers in state enterprises
and private companies because these executive officers must
generate money.

Anywhere under the sun, the position of a state high-ranking
official is always an honor/mandate. Therefore, U.S. vice
president George Bush was willing to abandon his job as an
executive officer in a particular company with a salary of US$1
million a year in order to take up the position of the vice
president with a salary of not more than $150,000 a year.

It must be added that the facilities that a chief executive
officer (CEO) receives are not worse than those that a president
enjoys, such as a special aircraft, an bullet-proof automobile, a
house and other benefits. The only difference is that anywhere in
the world the respect that the community pays to the most
successful CEO will not be as great as the respect that they
accord to a good head of state/head of government.

A number of former U.S. ministers were willing to abandon
their executive positions in large companies with salaries of up
to $2 million a year just to take up a ministerial post, from
which they earned only $60,000 a year.

Therefore, it is proper that state officials also experience
the lower living standard of the majority of Indonesians.
Finally, if corruption is given as the pretext for the salary
hike, we must be aware that many government officials during the
Old Order period and at the beginning of the New Order era were
not involved in corruption despite their meager salaries.

HM RIDHWAN INDRA RA

Bekasi, West Java