T

he rift between Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama and City Council regarding the 2015 draft city budget has reduced the take-home pay for some 70,000 civil servants over the past two months.

In addition to receiving a base salary, civil servants also receive two kinds of benefit pay categorized as '€œdynamic'€ and '€œstatic'€. The dynamic kind of pay depends on work performance, while the static kind of pay is determined by daily attendance and appraisals from supervisors.

Jakarta Employment Agency (BKD) head Agus Suradika said Monday that the disbursement of both the static and dynamic benefits would depend on the approval of the 2015 draft city budget by the Home Ministry.

'€œWe cannot pay them on time during these two months, as the disbursement depends on the
2015 draft city budget'€™s approval,'€ he said.

According to Agus, the static benefit for the lowest-ranking civil servant was Rp 3.7 million (US$285), while for civil-servant candidates (CPNS) it was Rp 2.5 million.

'€œThe highest static benefit is for echelon I officials like city secretary or governor-assistants, which can be worth Rp 49 million per month,'€ he said.

The static benefit for civil servants and civil-servant candidates is supposed to be disbursed on the 18th day of the month, while the dynamic benefit is to be disbursed every three months.

Agus said low-ranking civil servants now received just a modest base salary of around Rp 2 million ($154), while those who held structural positions also received a modest base salary of around Rp 3 million.

The Financial Management Board'€™s (BPKD) Heru Budi Hartono confirmed that the Home Ministry would prohibit the city administration from disbursing benefits until the ministry approved the draft city budget.

'€œWe are only allowed to pay the base salaries for around 70,000 employees and disburse the maintenance costs for regular programs,'€ he said.

Many city civil servants have decried the halt in static-benefit disbursements and have expressed hope that the budget dispute be resolved quickly.

A staff member in the public relations office who preferred to remain anonymous said he had faced difficult times because of the late benefit disbursement.

'€œI received my basic salary on March 1st, but it was only Rp 2.8 million,'€ he said, adding that Rp 2.8 million was far from adequate to fulfill his family'€™s daily needs.

He said he was fortunate to be living with his parents-in-law, which allowed him to borrow money to buy milk for his infant son. He added he would have to pay fines for making late payments on his mortgage.

A security officer at City Hall, meanwhile, said the official civil servant shuttle buses had stopped operating.

'€œI have to spend extra money on transportation costs,'€ she said, adding she would have to spend an Rp 50,000 a day due to the loss of the shuttle bus service.