The city administration will not hesitant to dismiss, demote or cut the performance allowances of civil servants if they engaged in illicit behavior, Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama said on Monday, adding that the warning also applied for the city's daily contract workers.

The warning followed revelations that several sub-district chiefs had allegedly ordered officials from the Public Facility Maintenance Office to extort money from residents.

Based on the reports, a sub-district chief had been caught asking for a sum between Rp 3 million (US$ 225) to Rp 4 million from residents in exchange for cutting trees on their properties, Ahok told journalists.

Moreover, a subdistrict chief also allegedly misused public monitoring application Qlue, by asking the Public Facilities officers to file a complaint through the application so that the chief would get positive feedback from the city administration. Civil servants who often skip work will also face dismissal, Ahok said.

The administration has a complete records of the officials, Ahok said, refusing to disclose the identities of the civil servants or where they work. Still, the former East Belitung regent thoroughly rebuked them over their misconduct.

"If there are civil servants who keep 'playing' in their areas, we will clean them by replacing all of the structural officials," Ahok said adding that  he strongly urged all civil servants to report any misconduct by their superiors.

Replacing people who were dismissed would not be a issue for the city administration, he added, as up to 900 people had recently taken part in the test for district and sub-district chief positions. (rin)

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