Ombudsman Highlights Project For The Office Of The Regent Of North Penajam Paser, Irony In The Midst Of Late Incentives For Healthcare Workers

JAKARTA - Ombudsman member Robert Na Endi Jaweng said the construction of the official house of the North Penajam Paser Regent, East Kalimantan, worth Rp34 billion is an irony when incentives for health workers have not been paid.

"It is an irony when the regent and his staff continue to build the Rp34 billion office house, while there are many health workers there whose incentives have not been paid," said Robert in a public discussion entitled Regional Leadership Crisis in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic, quoted by Antara, Thursday, September 2.

The results of the investigation by the Ombudsman, said Robert, found that there were still a lot of incentives for health workers that had not been paid by the North Penajam Paser Regency Government. In addition, the honorarium for the COVID-19 vaccinator and additional income for the local state civil apparatus (ASN) have also not been paid.

The construction of the official residence of the North Penajam Paser Regent has been ongoing since October 2020.

Robert emphasized that there was a possibility that the figure of Rp34 billion could increase. In fact, the construction of official houses is something that is very easy for him to stop.

According to Robert, even though the development already has a legal basis, the budget should be used to deal with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He then quoted the statement of Plt. Executive Director of the Monitoring Committee for the Implementation of Regional Autonomy (KPPOD) Herman Nurcahyadi Suparman who mentioned the affected sectors, including health, economy, and the provision of social safety nets.

In practice, said Robert, it is precisely the rights of the vanguard in handling COVID-19 that are not paid on time.

"In the Ombudsman category, this is a form of maladministration. There is a protracted delay which then the rights and justice for them (health workers, vaccinators, and ASN, ed.) are not paid on time," he said.

He said the situation was ironic. When the community is struggling with various difficulties in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, the elites insist on continuing the construction of official houses.

"This is really painful. They (the elite, ed) are even still looking for reasons that this (health worker incentive payment) is not something that is mandatory," said Robert.

Previously Plt. Head of the Regional Finance and Assets Agency (BKAD) North Penajam Paser Muhajir said the incentives in January to June 2021 for health workers in North Penajam Paser Regency will be disbursed soon.

According to him, the delay was due to the incentive circular issued in the middle of the 2021 APBD, rationalization of programs and activities, as well as budget refocusing sourced from special allocation funds (DAK) and profit sharing funds (DBH).