Excellent Public Service Proves State Presence Among People: President Jokowi
Excellent public service is tangible evidence of the presence of the state among people’s lives on a daily basis, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has said.
According to him, the state is deemed to be present if it is able to provide excellent, fast, professional and just public services.
To that end, the President added, excellent public services require sustainable efforts, system transformation, good governance, a change in the mindset and work culture from ‘being served’ to ‘serving’ culture.
“I’d like to express my gratitude and highest appreciation to the Leaders and Members of the Ombudsman for the 2016-2021 period and congratulations on serving the Ombudsman leadership for the 2021-2026 period. What the Ombudsman has done so far has helped improve the quality of public services in the country,” said the President in his remarks during the 2020 Ombudsman Annual Report, Monday (08/02).
The Head of State also pointed out that Indonesia has a mammoth task to transform bureaucratic service model which is rigid, stuck in procedural and administrative matters into a public service that puts emphasis on speed, innovation and result-oriented mode.
“This’s a big work for us. It requires participation from all elements of society and supervision from the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia both in the forms of suggestions, criticism and support so that public services in the country will be of higher quality,” he said.
On that occasion, the President also offers highest appreciation to the Indonesian Ombudsman for monitoring and supervising public services run by state administrators, the Central Government, regional governments, including state-owned enterprises, private sector and individuals tasked with providing certain public services.
The COVID-19 pandemic, he added, has forced public service providers to transform by means of innovation and breakthroughs.
The President also reiterated that the public must receive fast and effective services in health sector, as well as protection and fast assistance from the state so that they can survive and maintain their quality of life.
In this difficult time, according to the President, all public service providers must be able to change the frequency from normal to extraordinary mode, change the way of work from ‘business as usual’ to be more innovative, seek smart shortcuts and continue to boost efforts for improvements.
“We have come a long way; yet, we need to improve many things. I’m sure that the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia has also found a host of shortcomings we need to fix. This is pivotal to boost public service quality standards in the future,” he remarked.
The President also appealed to the public to become part of the process to materialize better public services, while calling for more active roles from the public in delivering constructive criticism, suggestions, or reporting potential maladministration. (FID / UN) (MUR / EP)