Soeharto calls for improvement in quality of state administration
Soeharto calls for improvement in quality of state administration
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto yesterday called for
improvement in the competency of civil servants, modern
management in public administration and a stronger autonomy for
local administrations to support the national development.
"We should realize that an improvement in development must go
hand in hand with an improvement in the government apparatus,"
Soeharto said when he opened the National Coordinating Conference
on Administrative Reforms yesterday.
He said the commencement of the Second Long-Term Development
Plan (PJP II) which began on April 1 requires the improvement of
government machinery to accelerate the pace of development and
democratization.
He saw the theme of the meeting, which focused on the
discipline of government apparatus and improvement of public
services, as being very relevant.
Soeharto said that discipline and public service are two
important elements to optimize administrative management and
provide opportunities for society to grow.
"I expect that this meeting will produce operational steps to
improve discipline and the quality of public service," the
President said.
Soeharto warned that the tasks of the nation in the coming 25-
years would be more challenging, and that the machinery of
government would have to be ready to meet those challenges.
Elaborating further on the fostering of civil servants,
Soeharto lamented the lack of comprehension of the procedures
within the government bureaucracy, pointing to the unsatisfactory
results of the apprentice programs as one of the causes.
New recruits come from various backgrounds, thus an intensive
effort in forging an understanding of governmental and
developmental administration must be conducted, he said.
The disbursement of administrative power to the local
administrations, meant to facilitate societal creativity and
inspiration, was also stressed by the President.
"This is a key ingredient that will determine our success as
our economy begins to take off," Soeharto said.
He encouraged government offices to promote further de-
regulation and bureaucratic reforms.
He added that the central government had first started the
decentralization of administrative power, giving more freedom to
local administrations, in 1974 and a new government regulation on
local administrations is being prepared.
"This meeting should focus its attention on discussing any
problems related to the decentralization of administrative power
to the second-level districts," he added.
Before closing his speech, Soeharto also advocated the use of
modern management to support the countries development.
"Modern management has to be applied to the planning,
implementation and supervision stages," he said.
The three-day meeting is attended by 250 officials, including
heads of the personnel bureaus from all across the country. (07)