The purpose of bureaucracy

The purpose of bureaucracy

The citizens of Surabaya have to meet 14 requirements to be
eligible for an identity card. In West Java, textile mills have
to pay 36 kinds of levies to be allowed to operate. Both issues
have been widely discussed in the media in the past few days.

At the end of last week yet another issue emerged. Raising the
fees people have to pay to get their civil concerns looked after
has been suggested. The measure is to be tried in Jakarta first,
and then possibly extended to all cities in Indonesia. In
Jakarta, for example, it has been proposed that the fee to
process an ID card be raised from Rp 1,000 to Rp 3,000 due to the
processing system, which has been modernized by a private sector
business working with the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Bureaucracies are supposed to implement regulations to allow
life in the country to proceed in an orderly manner and so that
people can live their lives in peace. But what has our experience
been? Dealing with the bureaucracy has become synonymous with
difficulty.

Before people even begin to approach a government employee,
they often feel apprehensive, confused or even afraid of the
complicated and aggravating process they are about to encounter.
Fear is felt because people are not dealing with a bureaucracy
which serves, but rather with power holders who decide whether or
not people can accomplish whatever they set out to do.

-- Kompas, Jakarta