President frustrated by poor bureaucracy

President frustrated by poor bureaucracy

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta

Frustrated by the performance of the government's civil servants,
President Megawati Soekarnoputri urged on Monday government
officials to get out and check reports firsthand rather than
remaining desk-bound while making decisions that affect the
people's welfare.

"I have been leading a government which I think is like trash
because bureaucrats only want to receive good news," Megawati
said in an off-the-cuff speech at the opening of a meeting of the
office of the state minister for administrative reforms, held at
Hotel Indonesia here.

The President said that government officials should stop
making reports which were intended to please their superiors, a
long-standing habit which Megawati admitted had hampered her
administration's efforts to help the country recover from crisis.

It was not the first time Megawati expressed her
disappointment with the performance of the civil service. The
President had warned that she would dismiss all government
officials who could not support her administration, but there
have been no reports yet of such a punishment actually occurring.

"I spoke with Vice President Hamzah Haz this morning and we
had a good laugh, because there was a report on the existence of
a forest in a certain area which (we know to be) nothing but
bushes," Megawati said.

"It will be better if the officials provide facts, even 'bad
news', so we can find solutions to problems."

Many have expressed doubts that Megawati would be able to
reform the bureaucracy due to the fact that she is not familiar
with the state bureaucracy that was built by former president
Soeharto.

In her speech, Megawati also underscored the importance of
improving the quality of this country's human resources in a bid
to restore the tarnished image of public servants.

"The bureaucracy has come under fire for its arrogance, its
overweight structure, corruption and lack of professionalism.
Frankly, it sounds like a mockery of the system," she said.

The meeting on administrative reform will last until
Wednesday.