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)