Gov't Form Special Team to Handle LIPI Restructure Polemic

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian government is set to form a team that consists of members across state-ministries to help solve the restructure polemic within the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).

“The solution is to form an ‘alignment team’ from the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education, Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform, National Civil Service Agency (BKN), and LIPI itself. This team will solve the issue,” said Syafruddin, Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform in a press conference with LIPI chairman and staff on Monday.

According to Syafruddin, the last month saw LIPI criticized by internal staffs upon the agency’s restructuring and demands that LIPI puts forth research rather than administrative functions.

“This polemic happened in the past month. I noted that there is some sort of miscommunication between the Head of LIPI, staffs, and members, which created a gap,” said Syafruddin.

LIPI’s organizational restructure saw several positions changed from a structural level to a functional level. However, Syafruddin maintained that there are no positions erased and blames the miscommunication to the imprecise implementation and execution.

Friday, February 15 saw a peaceful protest from LIPI members demanding the moratorium of LIPI`s reorganization and redistribution. However, LIPI Head Laksana Tri Handoko asserts that it is needed to elevate LIPI into becoming a world-class science institution.

ANTARA