YOGYAKARTA- Regional Autonomy has run for over ten years.Even so, public service at provincial and regency/municipality levels in Indonesia are still discouraging. Of around 525 provinces and regencies/municipalities, ony 10% can implement the public service well. The rest has yet to improve.
“Of that figure, ten percent have given good public service,” said member of Regional Representative Board (DPD), Maj. Gen (Purn) Ferry F.X. Tinggogoy, in a general lecture for new students of Faculty of Geography UGM, Friday (7/9).
Besides the poor public service, budget distribution practices pose a disparity. The budget aimed for people prosperity is more enjoyed by the elite from the middle class up to the upper class. The budget is also aimed for the interest of the bureaucrat, namely civil servant salaries.
“The ones who enjoy the budget allocation in the regions are the elite, the middle class and the upper class. This should become our concerns,” he described.
The Member of Parliament from North Sulawesi saw that the Regional Autonomy has politically been in place but there is yet some room to improve in terms of freedom in elections. Ethics and morality are no longer a serious consideration, less important than political interests, for example the case in a certain region.
“The regulations for candidates who have once been involved in a legal case, even convicts, are loose. It is here that the regional General Election Commission should be more careful in drafting regulations for a regional leader election,” he said.
In front of 337 new students of the Faculty, Ferry replied questions from students on national entrance test. Ferry affirmed that the DPD still rejected the national entrance test to assess student capability during period of study. Ferry hoped that the national examination would be banished as it does not respect Regional Autonomy and the region to develop.
“It is clear that Papua and Yogyakarta are different in terms of facilities or teachers. Don’t make them in the same level,” he responded.
As known, Regional Autonomy was produced as an idea coming from the correction of government type and relations between central-regional governments which is centralistic, exploitative and far from democratic values which are now the mainstream of political system in the world.