Over 500 civil servants get sanction for going AWOL

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

At least 557 civil servants who were absent without leave on the first two days of work after the long Idul Fitri holiday will receive punishment, including demotion, a city official says.

"The gravest punishment, that is demotion, will be handed down to those who have gone AWOL in two consecutive years, while others will receive milder punishment, that is delayed promotion," City Audit Agency head Firman Hutajulu announced at City Hall on Wednesday.

The city administration declared Nov. 2 to Nov. 8 an official holiday week to allow city officials to celebrate Idul Fitri, which fell on Nov. 3 and Nov. 4, with their families.

Many officials, however, did not show up when they were expected to return to work on Nov. 9.

Firman said his agency was comparing a list of absent civil servants with last year's list in order to identify defiant personnel.

He said his office would hopefully finish compiling a list of truant civil servants by Friday, adding that he estimated that 30 percent of them would be demoted.

Governor Sutiyoso said earlier that civil servants who were absent without leave after the holiday had to be punished as they had failed to present a good image to the people they served.

"I won't tolerate their absences, except those who called in sick, as they had already enjoyed a full week's holiday," Sutiyoso said previously.

Sutiyoso made impromptu checks at city agencies on the first day of work and found that many civil servants either came late or had failed to show up at their offices altogether.

Meanwhile, the assistant to the city secretary for administrative affairs, Moerdiman, revealed that aside from the absent civil servants, 1,181 workers arrived late at their offices on the first day back at work, while another 435 came late on the second day.

"They will only be admonished by their supervisors," Moerdiman said.

He quoted Government Regulation No. 30/1980 on civil servants, which stipulates that a civil servant is only to be reprimanded for turning up late at their workplace.

"For truancy, officers should see an up to one-year delay in regular promotion, while those who were absent two years in a row will be demoted by one rank," he said.

There are more than 29,000 civil servants in the Jakarta administration, excluding teachers at state schools and non- permanent staff at city agencies.

Last year, the Jakarta Audit Agency said 874 civil servants had failed to appear in their offices on the first days of work after the holiday, but the administration did not issue a report on the punishment handed down to them, or announce if there was any punishment.

Amid skepticism that demotion is just an empty threat, Moerdiman was adamant that his office was serious about instilling discipline in civil servants.

"We are serious. The last time we demoted a city officer was two years ago for skipping work (after the holiday) for two consecutive years," he said.

Sutiyoso removed Jakarta Parks Agency head Maurits Napitupulu from his position in 2003 after he was found absent without leave. Maurits was replaced by Sarwo Handhayani.

Last year, Sutiyoso did not carry out checks at city agencies. Instead, he assigned a joint team from the City Audit Agency and the City Human Resources Agency to carry out inspections.