“We want to move away from the old habits and toward new ones. Can you do it?” Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo asked in a meeting at City Hall on Thursday.

“Yes, we can,” came the collective answer from the one regent, five mayors, 44 district chiefs and 267 subdistrict chiefs in attendance.

Thursday’s meeting was held following impromptu visits made by Jokowi a few days earlier at three subdistrict and one district office in Central Jakarta where he found out that the offices were virtually empty.

The governor, known for his common touch, said he was disappointed by what he saw and planned to summon all mayors, district chiefs and subdistrict chiefs.

“What I saw yesterday, let it be in the past. You are all my partners, you are on the front line of serving the people. From this day on we will serve the people better,” Jokowi told his subordinates.

In his speech, Jokowi asked the officials to work harder to serve the people better.

“Be like those in banking. Serve people like banks serve their customers. Greet them with smiles, provide them with nice waiting areas, treat them like kings,” he said.

“I will come again to your offices unannounced. I can come early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Next time I will take notes.”

The governor gave the officials six months to make changes. If they failed to do so, the governor said that he would “leave them behind”.

“I am simple man. If you share my vision, then let’s get on our train together. But if you don’t I’m going to leave you behind. I expect us to have made improvements within six months,” the governor said.

North Jakarta Mayor Bambang Sugiono admitted that public service in Jakarta needed to be improved.

“Our one-roof integrated service, for example, is yet to live up to its name. District and subdistrict chiefs have yet to work optimally for the service,” Bambang said.

The city has opened an integrated service center for people to pay their various taxes at district offices.

Earlier this year, the city launched another center at its municipal offices, providing services for those seeking foreign and domestic capital investment licensing and simplifying the registration process for capital investment.

The center, located at the Central Jakarta administration office in Tanah Abang, features representative counters for six city offices and offers 15 business-related license services.

The offices are Jakarta’s Small and Medium Business Cooperation and Trade (KUMKMP) Office, the Industrial and Energy Affairs Office, the Public Order Agency, the Environmental Agency, the Spatial Planning Agency and the Building Permit Agency.

Isnawa Adji, chief of Tambora district in West Jakarta, said he agreed with the governor.

“We need to make improvements. I will try to make changes in my district,” Isnawa said.

Tumpal Manurung, chief of Karet Semanggi subdistrict in South Jakarta, complained about the lack of supporting facilities for Jokowi’s service improvement plan.

“My office is an old, crumbling building. I don’t have enough employees. We can only carry out certain improvements given our current condition,” Tumpal said.

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