Public Service At Pohuwato Gorontalo Remains Normal Even Though The Regent's Office Is Burned By Masses

The Regent of Pohuwato Regency, Saipul Mbuinga, gave information after the burning and destruction of the local regent's office and DPRD office that occurred on Thursday (21/9) at his private residence, Sunday (24/9/2023). ANTARA/Zulkifli Polimengo

GORONTALO - Public service in Pohuwato Regency, Gorontalo Province, remains normal after the riots caused the regent's office building to catch fire and the DPRD office was damaged. "Government services remain normal. We make sure the community still gets the necessary service rights," said Pohuwato Regent Saipul Mbuinga when met at his private residence as reported by Antara, Sunday, September 24. After the riots, his party immediately held a meeting with the regional secretary (sekda), expert staff and assistants to discuss quick steps to maintain government stability. "The meeting's decision is that we regularly visit all regional apparatus organizations (OPD) to ensure that public services continue as usual," said the Regent. Although currently the regent's office as the center of government in Pohuwato Regency has been damaged and burned by demonstrators, according to him, it will not affect the enthusiasm and performance of all its staff in carrying out public services. "I together with the Deputy Regent and Regional Secretary will regularly visit every service. Through the visit, we instructed the ranks to stay focused on carrying out their respective duties and functions," he said. Since Friday, the center of government or regent's office has been temporarily controlled from the joint office. This is not one reason that can affect the implementation of government. In that incident, not a single important document or file was rescued because upon arrival at the regent's office, the action immediately acted anarchically, starting from destroying to burning. "All important documents disappear, including government programs that are currently being implemented. Actually, they are very influential and disturbing, but as soon as possible we will fix them again," he said. Currently, his party has not been able to confirm the total budget to rebuild the new regent's office because currently the authorities are still collecting data and calculating, along with the total loss. "For damaged buildings and facilities, we will calculate everything first, and a new one will definitely be built. The target is in accordance with our capabilities," he said. Previously, on Thursday (21/9) there was a demonstration by thousands of people which led to the burning of the regent's office, the destruction of the DPRD office, to the regent's official residence.

The anarchist act of residents is thought to have been triggered by the frustration of the residents of gold miners in the region, who felt they were not treated fairly by one of the gold mining companies in terms of a nominal assessment of profit compensation.