PATTIRO asked the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia (ORI) to immediately implement a national complaint handling system that is integrated with social accountability. A social accountability approach can be used to handle problems that can be resolved in the service unit. So not all complaints must be resolved by ORI. On the other hand, integration with the national complaints mechanism is important because not all public complaints can be resolved in service units.
At the same time, it is also important for ORI to educate the public to understand their rights to ensure that accountability for all services actually runs. This is in response to ORI’s press release, Thursday (16/12). ORI said that in 2014 they received 6,180 complaints, which means an increase of 20 percent compared to the previous year. Of that number, 57.7% were direct victims of maladministration.
ORI member Hendra Nurtjahjo stated in the press release that public awareness is required to report public service and maladministration problems to ORI. The public is aware that ORI is effective in resolving complaint reports, faster than court proceedings.
Unfortunately, PATTIRO’s findings regarding reporting public service problems are not only a matter of awareness, but more because few people know their right to complain. For example, a survey conducted by PATTIRO Surakarta related to the level of public knowledge of public services and their rights in providing services regulated by law in mid-2012. As many as 85% of respondents from the people of Surakarta stated that they did not know about public services and their rights which are protected by law. . This ignorance is the reason why the public cannot play an active role in supervising the implementation of public services and is still reluctant to provide criticism and suggestions.
This is understandable because there are still many service units that do not have a complaint management system. Complaints just stop in the suggestion box. PATTIRO Surakarta has also tested a complaint service by visiting events or places where people gather. In 7 events, each lasting only 2 hours, the public submitted 1,500 complaints. The composition is 8% licensing service issues, 24% Population Administration, 11% Electricity, 14% Education, 25% Health, 8% others. Other services include Regional Drinking Water Company (PDAM) services, Religious Affairs Office (KUA) services, Driving License (SIM) and One-Stop Single Administration Unit (SAMSAT) services, waste management, public facilities (such as damaged roads), and environmental Hygiene.
On the other hand, integration with the national complaints mechanism must also be improved. Not all public complaints can be resolved in the service unit, for example, it is impossible for the school principal to resolve allegations of fraud committed by school management, so the education office and local government bureaucracy above it are the parties responsible. If it is related to national policy, then this will be the ministry’s domain. An initiative created by Presidential Work Unit for Supervision and Control (UKP4) by creating Report! needs to be adopted by ORI. Learning from the UKP4 experience, ORI needs to open cooperation with as many government agencies as possible to avoid complaints resolution being left behind.
PATTIRO also continues to recommend a social accountability approach to handle problems that can be resolved in service units. PATTIRO’s findings show that there are still many public complaints regarding service staff who are unfriendly and undisciplined, the quality of service is worrying, and the level of presence of service staff. This can be resolved immediately with a model for preparing regular Service Charters (Promises), which are prepared jointly between the community and service units. The Service Charter contains any aspects that need to be improved by the service unit. In this way, the community can monitor within a year what has been repaired and is in better condition.
The press release was published online by Tribun News on Saturday, December 20 2014. Read the article at here.
Jakarta, 24 December 2014
