W. Jakarta mayor vows to cut notorious red tape
Fadjar Agustinus Panjaitan was installed on Friday as the new West Jakarta mayor, replacing Sarimun Hadisaputra. He will lead the second largest municipality in the capital, which has an estimated population of 1.9 million.
The vestiges of the old city of Batavia, which was built during the Dutch colonial era, can still be seen in West Jakarta. Efforts have been made recently to revive the old town.
Fadjar, formerly the Jakarta District Administration Office head, is known for his love for basketball and tennis. Born in Siantar, North Sumatra on Aug. 26, 1955, he started his career with the Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands) district in 1976 and later had a four-year stint as Cakung district deputy chief in East Jakarta. His career in the administration continued with another six years as Kalideres district chief, West Jakarta, and Sawah Besar district chief, Central Jakarta.
He was nominated in 1996 as the best district chief during his tenure in Kalideres. His district was nominated as the best service provider at the municipal level in 1997.
His experience has given him a comprehensive knowledge of the needs of local residents.
Fadjar shared his views with journalists, including The Jakarta Post's Damar Harsanto, on his policy to cut red tape and improve services for residents. Here is an excerpt of the interview.
Question: What is your vision as the new mayor for a better West Jakarta?
Answer: I will prioritize three things: to serve the public, empower the community and develop the society under my leadership. All my policies will always refer to those pivotal ideas.
What do you mean by serving the public?
Public services must be fast, cheap and simple. We will be efficient and effective by cutting the bureaucracy and minimizing red tape. I have learned from my experience in serving the public that residents would be pleased to receive quick and inexpensive services from our officials.
Better services are not only delivered by officials at subdistrict and district levels. Agencies closely related to the public -- the construction supervision and regulation agency, the population and civil registration agency and the spatial agency -- must also provide better services.
What sanctions will be imposed on officials who fail to provide better services?
I will refer to the existing regulations. If they fail to comply, they will be replaced and moved to other posts.
Are you ready to be evaluated in the next six months and replaced if you fail to perform?
Yes, I am ready. Besides my own priority list, I will also continue following up projects established by my predecessor including solving traffic woes, improving the environment and widening public access to education and health.
Are there any urgent issues you plan to address immediately?
I have learned that areas where Jakarta borders Tangerang have been left behind in terms of development. For example, the areas around the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport are in dire need of adequate public transportation to facilitate residents' mobility. Improvement of public transportation in the area will be on my priority list.
We will also actively take part in the project to implement the city's macro transportation system as one of Governor Sutiyoso's strategic projects. (Two major transportation projects that will involve West Jakarta are the monorail and busway projects. The construction of both is expected to be finished next year.)
So far, you have not mentioned any projects to revitalize heritage buildings in the old city in your programs. Did you forget to mention it?
The revitalization of heritage sites remains one of our key programs. Frankly speaking, there are some issues which I have to study before I proceed with certain policies.
The fact that most of heritage buildings are currently owned by private parties, and not the government, is another problem.
I have heard that some building owners have been active in promoting the revitalization (of the old city) program. I will try to discuss the matter with them.