Servants of the public

Up to the present, complaints are still being heard from the business world regarding the various factors that cause inefficiency and our high-cost economy.

Could it be that the government is not paying any attention whatsoever to those complaints? The answer is a definite no. Many efforts have been taken by the (central) government to reduce or even eliminate those factors. The President has even instructed all the authorities concerned to get rid all levies that are not directly related to production and distribution. Unfortunately, the results have not been as expected.

Many factors are at play to prevent those efforts from succeeding. One of those factors is a lack of recognition among government officials (Korpri) that they are servants of the public. Their neofeudal demeanor which sees the public as common people who need them -- not as citizens who deserve to be served by them -- still appears to be ingrained in many officials. It is therefore not surprising that in order to ensure that business of any sort is processed smoothly, extra costs have to be paid.

In addition, a major cause of the inability of the bureaucracy to keep pace with society's progress is the government's ambivalent attitude regarding the demands of an increasingly critical public. On the one hand, the government often emphasizes the importance of a clean and efficient administration. On the other hand no concrete efforts are being made to turn that statement into reality.

Therefore, the remarks which President Soeharto made yesterday (Monday) were quite correct. Korpri, as the repository organization of our civil servants should particularly reflect on the role and function which it has to assume in the present changing world. Even more important, it is time to recognize that the sacred mission of a government official is to serve the public for the sake of the well-being of the nation as a whole. If this is recognized, then we can hope that Korpri will in the future become an force accelerating us on our path towards national progress.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta