Jakarta – Millions of Indonesian civil servants are pressing for new regional autonomy laws to be changed, fearing they will lose their salary ratings and promotion system, a report said Friday.
Regional governments were ill-prepared to manage civil servants working for them, the head of the Civil Servants Employee Affairs Agency, Priyono Tjiptoherdanto, told the Jakarta Post.
He said the agency wanted five of the relevant autonomy laws, which came into effect on January 1, changed so that the 2.3 million civil servants slated for transfer to the regions will not suffer.
"We cannot have different standards of promotion, ranking, pension, transfer and other principle matters affecting civil servants' salaries," Tjiptoherdanto was quoted as saying.
"This could turn into disadvantages for the employees because under the existing regulations, the regions can make up their own rules for promotion, transfer and other management matters."
The agency has asked the presidential office to ensure that national civil servant management is handled by the central government.
"There have been cases where people in the regions were promoted for no clear reason," Tjiptoherdanto said. "Next thing we know the regions will have different standards and they can send people to early retirement."
Under the massive decentralisation program, local administrations will be responsible for the management, welfare and salary of the transfered civil servants. The salaries will be bankrolled through a general allocation fund from the state budget.
Meanwhile, Jakarta's City Subdistricts Administration Office said the city administration was still running behind on drafting structural changes to accommodate the new autonomy arrangements.
"The structural changes should have been made before the draft city budget of 2001 was endorsed if regional autonomy was to be implemented now," director Koesnan Halim was quoted as saying.
He cited hold-ups in the transfer of central government money- making assets in the capital to the Jakarta government. "It seems the central government remains reluctant to hand over assets to the city administration."
Halim said the Jakarta government would propose a management- sharing scheme with the central government regarding the assets, which include toll roads, recreation parks and ports.
"We will discuss the sharing arrangements further, but it is important that current operators of these assets acknowledge our existence as the host of the capital."
The regional autonomy laws took effect, without fanfare but with much criticism as incomplete and premature, on January 1. Almost immediately afterwards, one of its main architects, administrative reform minister Ryaas Rasyid submitted his resignation. Rasyid argued that the directorate charged with implementing the autonomy process had inadequate clout to ensure the cooperation of all government ministries.
Former president Suharto, an ex-army general who stepped down after 32 years in power in 1998 amid mass protests, enfored a rigidly centralized system of governance in the huge archipelago.