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)