Sutiyoso gives assurance on city employees' wages

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso guaranteed yesterday that the city administration would not withhold or cut salaries of its employees due to the crisis.

"Don't worry about that.

I can't imagine the government would make such an extreme decision to reduce or suspend civil servants' salaries," he said.

Rumors have circulated among the workers in recent days that the city, reeling from depleted revenues, only has sufficient funds to pay salaries for the next three months.

But Sutiyoso did not state how long the city administration would be able to pay its 70,000 personnel.

The governor also could not promise how long the city would pay its "welfare allowance", which includes meal and transportation fares, to workers.

"In the future, we will probably no longer be able to provide this allowance, which we have provided up to now."

Another rumor claims the city will use essential goods in exchange for cash to pay salaries.

In response, Sutiyoso commented: "I don't think it will go that far."

He admitted his office was facing serious financial difficulties which had forced it to cut expenses in all sectors, including overtime allowances.

The city administration's secretary, Fauzi Bowo, said the overtime allowance was no longer given to employees on the grounds that there were no current projects.

A female official at the City Council said yesterday the administration has yet to pay the welfare allowance to her and her colleagues.

"We are supposed to get about Rp 140,000 (US$14) a month for the welfare allowance and we usually receive it in the second week of the month at the latest," said the woman, who asked for anonymity.

She was disturbed to hear about the possibility of the administration cutting back or terminating the allowance if the crisis persisted.

"Please, don't do that to us.

"Does the government expect us to go to work on foot, or what?"

Cost-cutting measures have included use of telephones and electricity.

Some telephones at the administration and City Council have been reprogrammed to only receive incoming calls and make internal calls.

A middle-ranking employee, who also asked not to be named, complained the administration's efficiency drive was impinging on work productivity.

"We have been unable to make outgoing calls since Friday. Our work here has been terribly difficult ever since. We badly need the phone to collect information and data from related offices out there."

An official said last week the administration's public relations office had drastically decreased expenses, including to develop pictures taken at official functions.

But a city administration spokesman, Kamaludin Santos, denied the staff members' complaints about inhibited activities.

He said his office was considered as playing an important role in the administration's functioning and it still received adequate funding.

But he admitted his office was required to minimize its expenses, including for lunch boxes given out to staff and city hall reporters.

"Maybe we'd better recount the exact number of people to receive the meals so that we don't have to order fan excessive number," he said. (cst)