The new legislation on public services should not only focus on civil service reforms but also involve private sector entities, a group of activists said Friday.
Civil Society Concerned with Public Service (MP3) coordinator Ajeng Kusuma Ningrum said the government's approach in formulating bill on public services was inappropriate because it only focused on civil service reforms.
"We believe the legislation on public services should focus on the wider context of the state's responsibility in fulfilling the community's basic needs," she said.
"Therefore, the private sector must be included in the legislation because they also provide services to the public."
Existing consumer protection legislation does not guarantee that private business will provide good service, Ajeng said.
"This legislation only covers public services. What about people who need certain services from the private sector but cannot afford to pay?" she said.
"What if a seriously ill person is turned away from a private hospital? There is no protection for that person under the consumer law."
The State Ministry for Administrative Reforms submitted the public service bill to the House of Representatives in 2005. The House Commission II overseeing home affairs, regional autonomy and state apparatus has formed a working committee to discuss the legislation further.
In efforts to guarantee the quality of public services, including those provided by the private sector, MP3 has proposed several ideas to the commission.
Ajeng said the legislation should not only stipulate administrative sanctions but also criminal and civil sanctions.
"Administrative sanctions only cover civil services, while criminal and civil sanctions cover all parties including private providers of public services," she said.
Ajeng added that the legislation must require the public and private sector companies to take public opinion into consideration when determining their product and service standards.
"At least the key public stakeholders should be invited to discuss these matters."
Lawmaker Andi Yuliani Paris of the National Mandate Party faction said she disagreed with Ajeng, and that the private sector was outside the public service domain because it was profit oriented.
"Private sectors entities compete with each other, so they automatically have to maintain their service quality standards," she said.
Andi emphasized that the legislation would not only cover government officials but also those who worked in the state owned companies.
"They are also part of the state apparatus," she said.
Adrinov Chaniago, public policy observer from the University of Indonesia, said the private sector offered private goods and services so they did not need to be covered by the public service legislation.
Chaniago said private hospitals are not a public service.
"But we must remember that the legislation on health services requires private hospitals to provide fourth grade services for patients in need. The public can use this legislation to control a private hospital's social responsibilities," he said.
He suggested not mixing up different regulations into the public services legislation as he said it would slow down the deliberation process.
The process of deliberating this bill has been rather slow because lawmakers needed to finish several other urgent legislations including the political party bill and the revision of Law No. 32/2004 on Regional Administration, Andi said.
However, she said, Commission II plans to finish the legislation later this year.
"The public service bill is one of our 2008 priorities," she said. (alf)
