President reprimands local administration for poor service

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono reprimanded regional administrations for poor public service provision and reminded them to focus on providing basic infrastructure, during a speech on Wednesday in Ternate, North Maluku.

Yudhoyono said 85 percent of administrations had not provided enough services to their people.

“Let me remind all governors, regents and mayors to use their budgets for public needs, the people’s needs,” he said as quoted by Antara news agency.

Yudhoyono told regional leaders to not use the state budget for construction projects that would make no direct improvements to people's welfare.

“It would be better to use this money for infrastructure development for sanitation, water, electricity and roads,” he said.

Yudhoyono is in Ternate to officiate the relocation of the North Maluku capital from its temporary site in Ternate, to Sofifi.