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City has high hopes for new officials
The Jakarta administrationâs newly inaugurated Information and Technology Agency head, Ii Karunia, expressed gratitude for his promotion
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he Jakarta administration's newly inaugurated Information and Technology Agency head, Ii Karunia, expressed gratitude for his promotion.
'I understand that the job will not be easy. We have many things to fix. I will do my best to help change the city's complicated bureaucracy,' he told The Jakarta Post at City Hall on Friday, adding that he did not know about his new job until a day before the inauguration.
Before advancing to the civil service's echelon II level, Ii was an echelon III official working as East Jakarta's information and technology unit chief for six months.
The 24-year-veteran civil servant said that during his short stint as the unit's head, he set up one-door integrated services (PTSP) in the municipality's 75 subdistricts.
'When I was promoted to the information and technology unit in East Jakarta in June 2014, only 19 subdistricts were connected with the PTSP program. I was tasked with completing the program in the remaining districts. It was quite a tough job,' Ii said.
Ii was among some 6,500 officials inaugurated by Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama at the National Monument (Monas) park on Friday.
Twenty-eight division heads were promoted to echelon-II posts (equivalent to agency heads), while dozens of high-ranking officials were demoted to staff positions.
The reshuffle was a part of a massive overhaul of the administration's bureaucracy.
Ika Lestari Aji, the new head of the Housing and Administrative Building Agency, said her promotion came as a surprise. The former echelon III official, previously the head of the social affairs unit for North Jakarta municipality, said she had only aimed to keep her position.
'I did not expect to receive a promotion, because I thought I'd remain an echelon III official. Of course, the job will be very difficult and I will do my best to fulfill the mandate given by the governor,' said the woman who has 28 years of experience as a civil servant.
Other officials promoted included former Education Agency head Lasro Marbun, who now leads the Jakarta Inspectorate, which is responsible for overseeing the administration's programs.
Lasro said he came from humble beginnings, starting his career in 1987 as a contract cook at Tarakan General Hospital in Central Jakarta.
'Many people trusted me and were satisfied with my performance, so I was promoted to a civil servant in Jakarta. I would have never thought that I'd be where I am now,' he told the Post.
Lasro, known as Ahok's 'golden boy', especially after he saved more than Rp 1 trillion (US$81 million) while leading the Education Agency, promised to eradicate an entrenched culture of corruption in the administration.
Ahok said that he had high hopes for the new officials. 'They were chosen because their test scores show that they are capable. Therefore, I want them to show us what they are capable of.'
The governor added that the officials would have to perform. 'If they don't perform, they'll be demoted in three months,' he said.
