This morning, Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Purnama Tjahaja threatened to cancel the performance bonuses of civil servants who decided to skip work today, the first working day after the Idul Fitri holiday. He asked the Regional Employment Body (BKD) to conduct surprise inspections at all of Jakarta’s public service offices to find out who ditched their duties to extend their vacation.
The head of BKD, Suradika Agus, said that data from their inspections showed that about 1,000 civil servants were absent from work today, although he said that number might include some who had already had an extra leave day approved properly.
But BKD’s inspection was complicated by the fact that many of the fingerprint scanners in government offices, which are used to prove when civil servants arrive and leave work, are no longer functional.
Ahok said that he suspects that many of the scanner were intentionally damaged so that people could get away with skipping work more easily.
“Because they’re offline like this, we are suspicious. If there are [scanners] that are offline it’s because people want to mess around,” Ahok said as quoted by Vivanews.
This is not the first time Ahok has voiced suspicions about civil servant messing with the scanners. Back in June he said he believed some government employees had figured out how to hack the scanners so they could come and go as they pleased.
