Bandung City Government Ready to Raise Service Standards for the Community Through FKP

There is good news for the citizens of Bandung. The aspirations that have been accommodated by residents for the sake of advancing the city of Bandung can now be conveyed through the Public Consultation Forum (FKP) with the Bandung City Government (Pemkot).

The discourse on this new program was conveyed by the Deputy for Public Services of the KemenPAN-RB, Junaidi Sinaga in a strategic discussion of improving public services in the city of Bandung on Monday, February 7, 2022.

According to Junaidi, the problems faced by the Bandung City Government need to involve the role of the community to solve them in order to avoid gaps in misperceptions.

"FKP is basically a dialogue between the community and the government. Because usually the government's goals are good, but because of the lack of communication, people don't know what steps the government wants to take. So instead, assumptions that are not good appear," Junaidi explained.

For Junaidi, Indonesia as a democratic country is the core of the background for the formation of this FKP program. Thus, the aspirations of the people do not just evaporate. The government is not only able to fulfill the rights of citizens' opinions but is also able to empower the community.

"That way, we can create harmony between public expectations and the ability of the government as a service provider. So that public trust in the government will grow," he added.

Not only playing a role in conveying aspirations, Junaidi said, the community also has a function as monitoring policies issued by the city government.

"This public policy is complex. We should not only involve the community at the beginning but also process it until the end of monitoring and evaluation. So, this FKP really needs to be done regularly, at least once a year," he said.

The Head of Assistant for Maladministration Prevention at the Indonesian Ombudsman Representative for West Java, Fitry Agustine, agreed with the discourse on this program.

According to Fitry, FKP is included in one of the efforts that are in line with Law no. 25 of 2009 concerning Public Services.

"This FKP can also be a step for public service providers to improve and improve their services to the community by increasing public service standards in the city of Bandung," said Fitry.

In this meeting, Fitry also presented several suggestions for improvement for the Bandung City Government in improving its public services. Starting from the most basic aspects, such as the availability of information, infrastructure, officers at the front office, to service procedures for people with disabilities.

"There is one thing that is important, but not all agencies have this, namely officers who handle service users with special needs. It would be even better if these officers have sign language skills and have an assignment decree," he explained.

The selection of front office officers, said Fitri, needs to be determined more carefully. Front officers must be competent and know what products are issued by the relevant agencies.

"After all, the front office is a reflection of an agency. It must be someone who really understands and knows very well the products and programs provided by the relevant agency," he said.

In addition, Fitry added, several aspects that became the Ombudsman's assessment were also the availability of information on terms and procedures at the service desk, information on costs, and the period of time the service was completed.

"All of these goals are for us to be able to provide excellent service to the community. We also need to improve service standards not only offline but also online. Websites and applications must be user-friendly, don't make it difficult for people to access information with complicated registration," said Fitry.

According to Fitry, if service standards are not met, the impact can be a maladministration loophole, such as protracted delays, procedural irregularities, extortion, and even corruption. Thus, the end of this service compliance assessment will be a notification for each agency.

Welcoming this suggestion, the Acting Mayor of Bandung, Yana Mulyana said, it was time for the regional bureaucracy to start thinking like a tactical and agile corporate bureaucracy.

"We build a service with the principle of how the community can really get a fast, easy, effective, and efficient service. So we need to remind each other together," said Yana.

Adding Yana's response, the Regional Secretary for the City of Bandung, Ema Sumarna said, the maximum integrity of public services must be a reflection of every behavior, action, and activity of public servants.

"I see that Bandung has potential, capable of presenting the service standards as stipulated in Law No. 25 of 2009 and its derivative regulations," said Ema.

The demands of the times that are currently moving, added Ema, provide customer satisfaction. So, every regional organization (OPD) must be able to optimize its role.

"There are no more spaces for us to play when it comes to public services. This era of openness will bring 'customer satisfaction' if the procedures that have been carried out by the OPD are in line with the needs of the community," he said. (din)**

Head of Discominfo Bandung

Yayan A. Brilyana