Rana Akbari Fitriawan, Bandung – The outdated and inefficient national archives system must be renovated quickly to streamline bureaucracy and transparency at government institutions, a government official says.

"This is partly due to the fact that a number of institutions regard archival work as merely 'documentation'," said Tasdik Kinanto, the secretary of the Administrative Reforms Ministry, in Bandung.

Law No 43 2009 on national archives stipulates that all government institutions keep well-organized and efficient archives. Tasdik said that good management of government archives was essential because the performances of state administrations and institutions were judged and compared with historical records contained in the archives, and that the archives also had educational and strategic value.

"The national archive system is essential to the bureaucratic reform," he said, adding that the nation's bureaucracy was one of 11 major targets of the government's reform programs.

"To make it happen, good administration management, including of the national archive system, is urgent. Swift and effective coordination between government institutions both on national and regional levels is needed to help improve respect for the archival system," he said.

He said the archives were in desperate need of improved information technology and qualified bureaucrats. "Many regions have this, including Bandung," he said.

He said many bureaucrats regarded reform programs as a way to make themselves rich rather than essential to the country's development.

National Archive chairman M. Asichin also acknowledged weaknesses in the country's archive system. He said human resources needed to be improved and that new financial and technological systems needed to be implemented.

He added that his office was working to address such bureaucratic problems, including by offering assistance at regional administrations down to the sub-district level. "Sub-districts are in fact the spearhead of the national archive system," he said.