The annual Maladministration Perception Index (Inperma) gives Yogyakarta a score of 3.50, signifying a low rate of maladministration in public service, such as illegal gratuities, irregularities and discrimination.

Adrianus Meliala, the Indonesian Ombudsman commissioner who oversaw the survey, said Yogyakarta had the best score partly because it was a tourist destination. As the province was exposed to foreign tourists, its civil servants were held to international standards.

"Moreover, Yogyakarta is seeing middle-class people and students come to the province, which encouraged the administration to enhance the quality of its public services," Adrianus said at the publication of the survey at the Indonesian Ombudsman's office on Wednesday.

The Inperma, which surveyed 2,842 respondents across 10 cities and 10 regencies in 10 provinces, assesses the rate of maladministration in healthcare services, education, civil registration and licensing services.

The assessed provinces are Aceh, Yogyakarta, North Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, Gorontalo, Central Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara, North Maluku, Maluku and Papua.

The index results are divided into four categories: A low rate of maladministration with scores below 4.50, a middle-lower rate between 4.51 and 5.50, a middle-high rate between 5.51 and 6.50 and a high rate of maladministration with scores above 6.51.

"[The four services assessed] are vital and fundamental. We sought to see to what extent there were indications of maladministration by certain public service agencies," Adrianus said. "The survey is also meant to generate recommendations for improving each agency in serving the public."

In the survey, Gorontalo ranked second with a score of 4.05, followed by Central Sulawesi with 4.15.

Maluku, meanwhile, booked the highest rate of maladministration among the 10 provinces surveyed with a score of 5.02, followed by Aceh with 4.89 and North Maluku with 4.81.

In 2018, East Nusa Tenggara ranked best with a maladministration score of 4.47, followed by West Java with 4.98 and Jakarta with 5.11.

Nugroho Ningsih, a representative of the Yogyakarta administration, said the low rate of maladministration in the province was a result of a quarterly review of public service agencies' performance.

"[The score] meant that we had the least number of maladministration cases, so we had satisfied the people's needs in health care, education, permit services and civil registration services. The Yogyakarta administration is doing its duty," Nugroho told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the launch of the survey's finding on Wednesday.

"We will always keep improving and continue to provide the best services we can."

Yogyakarta records its lowest rate of maladministration in education services with a score of 3.17, followed by civil registration services with 3.53, healthcare service with 3.58 and permit services with 3.73.

The survey also found that a majority of people preferred direct visits to public service offices rather than using web-based platforms or mobile apps.

Adrianus said people believed it would be easier to get information they needed about procedures and the cost of public services through face-to-face communication.

“Public service agencies have been competing to offer mobile apps for their services, but it turns out that people want direct services and direct responses,” he said.

Indonesian Ombudsman deputy chairman Lely Pelitasari Soebekty said the index served as a guideline for them in strengthening monitoring of public service delivery in the provinces.

"Perhaps we can share the results with the heads of our branch offices so they can pay attention to provinces with certain scores," Lely said. (dfr)

Popular

Kadin urges stability after Constitutional Court ruling

Jokowi says transition to new government to begi

BCA loan disbursement surges 17.1 percent yoy in first quarter