Letters: The civil servant salary increase

I refer to the report on the 10 percent civil servant salary increase as stated by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The government plan would increase the basic salary of all civil servants, military and police personnel and pensioners by 10 percent next year, Yudhoyono said Monday.

This is potentially a step in the right direction, but only if it is accompanied by measurable productivity improvements.

There is abundant evidence of underemployed civil servants in Indonesia. One way to facilitate salary increases would be reducing the number of civil servants by not replacing retirees. Indeed, I have known civil servants who rarely even go to their work places, let alone work.

Sadly, many young people see the only incentive for becoming civil servants is the provision of a pension at the end of their working life.

They seem to have little interest in what happens in the intervening decades while they are busy planning their own side businesses. Being a civil servant is only a part time obligation that offers fulltime security.

Very sad.

We should expect young people to seek employment as a civil servant because of a passion to serve the people and the offer of a salary that can support themselves and their families. I have long held that better payment of civil servants is but one of the essential components in eliminating corruption in the civil service.

If salaries are not sufficient to support a family, civil servants must find alternative sources of income, which so often come through graft and corruption in their own agencies. Pay civil servants more, by all means, but demand more in terms of productivity and services.

Nairdah

Sydney