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Jakarta Post

Hundreds of civil servants already fired or demoted: Ahok

Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama said that he has fired 120 civil servants since his inauguration last November, and said he was processing the dismissal of 30 more employees

Dewanti A. Wardhani (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, September 16, 2015

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Hundreds of civil servants already fired or demoted: Ahok

J

akarta Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama said that he has fired 120 civil servants since his inauguration last November, and said he was processing the dismissal of 30 more employees.

Ahok said that most of the civil servants he had fired thus far had been proven to be involved in corruption, either petty or large scale, or had received gratuity.

'€œI will not tolerate civil servants who play around. I have fired 120 people [...] and I will continue to dismiss those who cannot work with integrity,'€ Ahok said during a seminar held by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and Australian Aid at City Hall on Tuesday.

Ahok went on to say that despite his multiple threats, civil servants continue to act against his orders. Some of the civil servants who have been fired were also those who failed to show up to work for weeks.

The former East Belitung regent said that Law No. 5/2014 on state civil servants had given an avenue for him to dismiss his subordinates, a practice that was previously almost impossible.

Law No. 5/2014 stipulates that a civil servant may be dishonorably dismissed if they have violated the 1945 Constitution or Pancasila national ideology, have been sentenced to prison for a crime related to their position as a civil servant, join a political party or if they are sentenced to at least two years in prison for a premeditated crime.

The administration does not have to prove the crimes before a court, but only through the inspectorate and city'€™s employment agency.

Aside from firing 120 civil servants, Ahok said that he has also demoted 2,500 civil servants since he took office as governor.

Separately, Jakarta Employment Agency (BKD) head Agus Suradika said that his agency must make sure that a civil servant had violated the law before being fired.

'€œWe often receive reports about our civil servants, whether from their superiors, peers or from residents. The BKD and the Jakarta Inspectorate will investigate these reports,'€ Agus told reporters on the sidelines of a plenary session at the City Council building on Tuesday.

After the investigation, he said, the BKD and the inspectorate concluded whether a civil servants had violated the law.

'€œIf we have gathered enough evidence [...] then we will recommend dismissal to the governor. The governor will make the final decision and sign the papers,'€ Agus said.

The BKD'€™s data, however, is slightly different from Ahok'€™s. The office said only 23 civil servants had been fired this year, but they were processing the dismissal of more than 90 more civil servants. The Education Agency and the East Jakarta municipal administration accounted for the most dismissed civil servants, with misuses of the city budget, extortion, receiving gratuities, failing to show up to work for more than 46 days and sexual assault the most common reasons for dismissal.

He further said that a number of civil servants had lodged complaints about their dishonorable dismissal with the National Employment Agency (BKN). After receiving a complaint, the BKN holds a trial to assess if the dismissal was justified.

'€œIf not, then the civil servant can return to work,'€ Agus said, adding that currently three dismissed civil servants had made reports to the BKN.

Jakarta Inspectorate head Lasro Marbun said that the city administration was currently drafting a gubernatorial regulation on corruption to prevent civil servants from being involved in corruption, extortion and receiving gratuities.

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