The Jakarta administration is paring down its organizational structure by merging bureaus and offices to make it "more adaptive and efficient". Experts welcome the move but warn that without the appropriate resource management and empowerment it could prove futile.
The restructure follows a government decree pushing for a trimmer regional structure, requiring Jakarta to scrap one of the five city secretary's assistants, and reduce its 11 bureaus to 10, 26 agencies to 20, and 16 technical bodies to 10. Not everything is being streamlined, though. Four deputy governor positions will be added and names have been submitted to the central government for approval.
The merger was carried out by sorting and matching functions, done through internal discussions with the help of some academics, said Catur Laswanto, the head of the organization and execution bureau.
"We categorized them into their functions and matched them. Offices with similar functions are to be merged, if their workload is not too heavy," Catur said, referring to the meetings held from the bureau level to the deputy governor level.
"On the one hand, this move is to comply with the central government's policy. On the other, the governor wants an effective and efficient administration to serve the public better and accelerate economic growth."
Under this plan, submitted to the City Council for review, 1,600 structural positions will be removed, but no people will be made redundant. Employees currently in the axed positions will be transferred.
The administration is also in the process of recruiting more than 2,000 new officers to fill any gaps in functions.
Catur said the move would ensure that people with the right qualifications and track record would fill the right positions, thus helping to cut costs.
"Imagine the long-term effect of having fewer officialsfewer benefit packages and facilities to be provided. The money saved means more money will be available for the people," he said.
But Iberamsjah, a professor of political science at the University of Indonesia, dismissed the financial aspect of the savings.
"The Jakarta administration has a budget of Rp 21 trillionthat is a lot of money," he said. "The savings will amount to very little compared with the total budget. But a slimmer organization could bring more efficiency and better public services."
Better services, however, will not follow effortlessly from the streamlining.
"The move must be followed by placing qualified people in the right positions. But who can guarantee that?" he said.
"Many people have questioned the choices of deputies proposed so far."
For the deputy positions, he added, experience was significant as it involved juggling a range of interests, not to mention the sheer volume of work. The deputy governor is tasked with advising the governor and communicating with the central government.
After placing key officials, managing the aftermath and the mind-set of the staff members are the next steps, said Bhenyamin Hoessein, head of the University of Indonesia's Administration Science Department.
"Any restructure will lead to conflict in the administration. What do you do with these people (who are removed from their positions)? They will surely be unhappy," he said.
He said making sure the entire team understood the purpose and the need for the restructure was crucial, although it was unlikely the message would reach every official. Therefore, steps to deal with the expected discontent should have been planned.
However, the most important thing, he said, was to change the mind-set of the entire team so they saw themselves as public servants, not as officials.
"There must be lots of training for everyone to change that. It is going to be a slow and difficult process," he said. "Do not expect any obvious improvement just by this restructure."
