JAKARTA (AFP) – Indonesian civil servants are feeling the pinch after Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto ordered sweeping budget cuts across government that he said will fund his big-ticket campaign pledges.
Many government offices in the capital Jakarta are now turning their lights and air conditioners off immediately when the work day ends at 4pm, leaving some employees trying to finish projects after hours at dimly lit desks, while others are being encouraged to work from home to save on energy costs.
The tightening of ministerial belts comes after Prabowo in late January ordered cuts to save IDR306.7 trillion (USD18.8 billion) on office spending, ceremonies and business trips.
The order left ministries scrambling and some officials in the dark, with analysts saying the sudden move was likely to shift funds to programmes like a USD4.3 billion free meal plan for schoolkids and a new sovereign wealth fund.
“Can you imagine working in the office, only your room is lit, everything else is off?” a 35-year-old civil servant told AFP.
“There’s no sound. It’s really dead silent. It makes a different atmosphere.”
Patrolling guards have also begun switching off electronic devices after work hours, following an order for employees to leave on time.
“There was a circular telling (workers) they must go home at 4pm. There is an appeal to leave the office soon and turn off the AC and all electronic devices,” said the civil servant, who requested anonymity for fear of professional reprisals.
“Before, there were no patrols. Now the conditions are darker, the AC temperatures have been set.”
Former general Prabowo, who took office in October, has said he wants to raise around USD46 billion from cuts to government spending and by taking from the dividends of state-owned enterprises.
“Our children must not be hungry… Our people, our children, must be well-fed,” Prabowo said last week.
The budget slashing has left the public works ministry with less than half the initial USD6.8 billion it was allocated this year, while the home ministry saw its budget cut more than 50 per cent to USD128.6 million. As the cuts squeeze workers in many government offices, a presidential spokesman said on Wednesday that the government would host a week-long mountain glamping retreat for hundreds of regional officials – costing USD808,000 from the home ministry budget.
The gathering has prompted criticism from civil society groups, including one which called Prabowo’s cuts “counterproductive and insensitive” to the needs of society.
Government employees now have to chip in for previously covered necessities such as drinking water and premium Zoom accounts, and others can no longer take business trips, bureaucrats said.
“We previously could use taxis for meetings outside the office. Now we’re paying out of our own pockets,” said a 33-year-old civil servant who also requested anonymity.
A Constitutional Court official told lawmakers last week that the deep cuts meant wages could only be paid until May.
In one ministry, long queues have been forming for elevators on a daily basis because fewer were running after orders by top officials to limit energy costs.
Workers complained to AFP that the cuts were not just inconvenient but counterproductive to their work, pointing to examples like the internet bandwidth being reduced while being ordered to hold more meetings online.
“Our hope is that this efficiency should not be counterproductive and contradictory,” said a 46-year-old worker.
The austerity measures have also sparked thousands of student protesters to rally across Indonesian cities this week, underpinned by a social media movement known as “Dark Indonesia”.
