Sutiyoso calls for modesty, but activists slam it as hot air

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

City Governor Sutiyoso delivered a speech to mark Jakarta's 475th anniversary at the City Council over the weekend, promising to uphold the law and improve public services, but activists quickly slammed his rhetoric as empty words.

Speaking in the council plenary session, Sutiyoso said upholding the law was important for the city to realize clean and good governance.

"The public have demanded the eradication of corruption, collusion and nepotism. They've become more critical now," said Sutiyoso, who earlier registered himself as a candidate for the next gubernatorial election.

Besides upholding the law, the governor also urged his administration's officials and employees to improve public services.

He said public services should be made easier, quicker, more transparent, cheaper, and free from officials' attempts to take bribes.

Sutiyoso, who was former Jakarta Military Commander, called on Jakartans, especially city officials, to live modestly.

"We should live in a proportional and modest way, avoiding consumerism as it could trigger social jealousy," he said.

Furthermore, he reminded the public to learn a lesson from the recent huge floods in the city, and that it was urgent to maintain the environment.

"After the recent extensive floods, we now realize that garbage management, regreening and water catchment areas are important," he said.

The massive floods in February caused billions of rupiah of losses. The city administration allocated more than Rp 200 billion to repair houses and other flood-related rehabilitation programs.

Separately, activists viewed Sutiyoso's speech as just rhetoric and accused him of contributing little during his four- year tenure.

"They are just empty words, meaningless as there have been no significant developments since he took office four years ago," chairman of the Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta) Azas Tigor Nainggolan said.

Tigor, who was earlier reported by Sutiyoso to the police for defamation, said only a few officials and low-ranking officials, who were guilty of corruption, had been punished during his tenure.

He viewed corruption, bribery in many agencies as having caused poor public services.

"Many employees are not willing to work quickly if they are not bribed," said Tigor, who is also a public lawyer at the Jakarta Social Institute (ISJ).

The head of the urban division of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, Tubagus Haryo Karbyanto, supported Tigor's statement. "I doubt that he (Sutiyoso) will put his words into action," he said.

"Take the environment as an example. Sutiyoso approved the change of several water catchment areas into industrial and trading centers," said Tubagus, who is also chairman of the city chapter of the Indonesian Forum on the Environment (Walhi).

He also doubted that Sutiyoso's call for modesty would be followed by his subordinates, saying that the governor earlier agreed to allocate a large amount of money for luxurious facilities for the city councillors.