'Sutiyoso has tough job'

Today's topic is the performance of Governor Sutiyoso, but it was interesting that many civil servants at City Hall refused to comment on the governor, whose term ends in October. Some agreed to be interviewed, but asked The Jakarta Post not to print their names. Most of them said they were afraid they would be "in danger" if their identity was known.

Muchayat, born in Jakarta 51 years ago, a graduate of the National Institute of Administration (LAN), lives in Kalibata, South Jakarta.

Maintaining security in the city during the economic and political crisis, especially after the massive ethnic riots in 1998, was one of Sutiyoso's many significant achievements that I could mention.

Sutiyoso's tenure is far different compared with other city governors in past years, as he has had a heavier burden. Too many problems have to be faced by the governor. Not all the problems could be thoroughly handled, no matter who the governor was.

People have changed and have become more critical, especially of the administration. Most development programs have been criticized as useless.

Of course, there were irregularities and weaknesses in the programs, but they were always corrected and improved.

Mahpud, 38, a cleaning service employee at City Hall for three years. He lives in a rented house in the Manggarai area of South Jakarta.

It seems that Sutiyoso devotes most of his attention to employees outside City Hall, such as increasing minimum wages. He should realize that many employees here at City Hall are underpaid.

The official minimum wage in the city is Rp 590,000, while my 26 colleagues and I are paid only Rp 310,000 a month by a private company which has a one-year contract with the administration.

Andi, 40, is a high school graduate who has been a civil servant at City Hall for almost 20 years.

Sutiyoso does not pay attention to "ordinary" civil servants, especially their future when they are due to retire. No matter what their achievements are or how long they have served the administration, they all receive a similar amount from the pension insurance fund (Taspen).

Besides receiving a monthly pension, which is half of their wage upon retirement, a civil servant receives about Rp 19 million (US$1,900) when they retire at the age of 55 years old.

What can we do with such a small amount of money?

The pension fund should be increased so that we could use it, for example, as capital to start a new business.

Many employees' children are still in school when they retire.

Dani Anwar, A city councillor from the Justice Party, 34, lives on Jl. Kebon Pala, Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.

Sutiyoso's administration has not shown any improvement from year to year. We have criticized the administration over allegations of corruption and collusion.

That's why our faction rejected Sutiyoso's accountability speech last month.