Ombudsman: Clear Public Service Standards Can Prevent Maladministration

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Ombudsman RI Deputy Chair Rahmadi Indra Tektona said clear public service standards are a key measure for preventing maladministration.

In a statement confirmed in Jakarta on Saturday, he explained that consistently applying service standards could prevent public complaints.

“One form of maladministration frequently found in public services is protracted delay, when people do not receive a service or certainty about its completion within the stipulated timeframe,” Rahmadi said.

He therefore stressed that every public service provider must ensure that requirements, procedures and service completion times are clearly specified.

He also emphasised this point at the 2026 National Coordination Meeting of the Indonesian Quarantine Agency in Bekasi Regency, West Java, on Thursday (15 October).

Rahmadi said public service provision must meet three criteria: clarity about the requirements people must fulfil, processes that follow the prescribed procedures, and measurable completion time standards.

He explained that maladministration can begin with poor public services that are not promptly addressed.

In his view, public complaints should provide the basis for service providers to make improvements before problems develop into maladministration.

“When public services are poor, complaints follow. If they are not addressed and are allowed to drag on, they become maladministration,” he said.

At the event, attended by senior central government officials and heads of quarantine technical implementation units, he warned that maladministration left unchecked and not followed up could develop into more serious legal problems, including corruption offences if the elements of a criminal offence are present.

To ensure services are free from maladministration, Rahmadi highlighted two important aspects: officials’ ethics and the quality of their work.

He said that civil servants who uphold ethical standards and maintain the quality of their work would avoid reprimands for poor public services that could lead to maladministration.

At the close of the event, Rahmadi also witnessed the signing of a declaration to establish an Integrity Zone towards a Corruption-Free Area and a Clean and Service-Oriented Bureaucratic Area in 2026 within the Indonesian Quarantine Agency.