Surjadi confirms public are fed up with red tape
Surjadi confirms public are fed up with red tape
JAKARTA (JP): Municipality officials should realize they are
employed to help people because the public is fed up with red
tape, Governor Surjadi Soedirdja said yesterday.
It is high time bureaucrats did away with their self-important
ways, he said at the installment ceremony of seven officials.
"... The municipality is a service organization, and people
expect results," Surjadi said.
"So old tricks like letting people wait, lengthening
procedures, making things difficult for people to make them feel
important must be left behind. People are fed up and
irritated ... and they expect good, fast and cheap service."
The public servants' motivation to do their jobs "should come
from the heart," he said, adding they must understand they are
employed to serve, not be served.
Suharso, the former acting chief of the city fire department
was one of the officials installed yesterday.
Surjadi said the fire department should be given priority in
plans for the 1997/1998 city budget.
He said the department's lack of adequate equipment could not
be ignored given the frequent fires.
"We can't let the fire department operate with leaking
hoses ... several times firefighters have been powerless at fires
scenes," Surjadi said.
Suharso said of their eight fire engines with 50-meter
ladders, only has been operational since they were used for 24
hours when the Pasar Baru shopping center caught fire on Jan. 27.
Ideal
Ideally there should be 205 so each of the city's 205
subdistricts could have a fire engine, he said. There are 106
fire engines without ladders.
Vehicles with ladders cost Rp 3 billion (US$1.25 million) each
while a regular engine costs up to Rp 300 million, Suharso said.
Councilors earlier urged the annual budget for the fire
department be increased from the current Rp 12 billion, noting
that one hydrant cost Rp 100 million.
The city only has 559 hydrants, while there should be at least
10,000, Suharso said. "We also need more fire posts to avoid
congestion," he added.
Meanwhile Deputy Governor for Economic and Development Affairs
Tb. M. Rais said yesterday technical guidelines were being
prepared on handling the aftermath of fires.
The guidelines, based on a city rule on disasters, are needed
because of uncertainties about what to do after a fire, such as
how long a police line is effective, Rais said. City authorities
were often at a loss about their responsibilities after a fire,
he added.
Other officials installed yesterday included Rama Boedi, the
new director of the city-owned water firm PAM Jaya replacing the
retired Syamsu Romli, and Sri Sudono Sumarto, the new head of the
city office of the Ministry of Education and Culture replacing
Kusnan Ismukanto. (anr)