TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Acting Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama says he will fire the capital’s Public Works Agency head, Manggas Rudy Siahaan, this week due to his poor work performance in managing flood embankment projects and the river dredging project, as reported by Antara News.

“This week, I will most likely replace several provincial agency heads. I don’t need to wait until the end of the year,” Ahok said on Monday.

According to Ahok, under Manggas, several projects had been delayed such as the construction of sheet piles for river embankments, which hampered river-dredging projects.

The acting governor also added that Manggas, as head of the Public Works Agency, was still using a tender system to procure heavy machinery such as cranes, which Ahok saw as a waste of time due to the long hours and funding that went into the tender process.

Besides flood mitigation projects, Ahok also criticized the agency’s sluggish progress in repairing broken and potholed roads in the capital, saying that the steady amount of public complaints regarding broken roads was a sign that the agency was not doing a good job.

“Many incidents happen on these broken roads and I won’t tolerate any agency employees saying that it is not their responsibility. I do not want any public complaints relating to broken roads by next year,” he added.

Ahok voiced his dissatisfaction with agency heads, particularly Manggas, during his time as deputy governor of the capital, but he did not then have the authority to replace them.

ANTARA NEWS