Public disappointment

Public disappointment

From Gamma

The multi-faceted crisis, which has hit all Indonesians, has not weakened but become stronger as the days wear on. Various kinds of tricks and strategies, which some administrative experts have studied and applied, have failed to expel the giant crisis from this country. People really expected the government to manage the country well, honestly and based on regulations that benefit all. Yet, it has just been an empty promise. Public officials from both the central and regional government, have been unable and do not want to realize the public's aspirations.

Their intelligence cannot better the country's situation. They have taken action that has left a deep wound among the nation's children. Corruption has become widespread. Frenzied regulations waffle on. Prices have been soaring and people gasp when following them. All these difficulties have become more complex as they have occurred alongside the presence of morally-degraded officials who have operated hand-in-hand with public money robbing entrepreneurs. The supremacy of the law is just a lullaby. The law only works for those with fat pockets. The natural resources have been arbitrarily exploited. Oil, copper, gold and silver have been sucked dry. Forests are cleared away. Some islands are sold and the results line the corruptors' pockets.

The public are all too aware of these disgraceful deeds but, bringing the country's money robbers to court is very difficult to carry out. Judges, prosecutors, lawyers and the police all remain easily bribed.

SRI ROMDHONI W. KUNCORO

Surakarta, Central Java