JAKARTA: The Public Works Ministry has been rocked by internal turmoil with reports of officials getting transferred to posts outside Jakarta, following the leak of a document detailing Minister Dody Hanggodo’s (pic) overseas work trip that included his wife and daughter.
An official document issued by the ministry previously made rounds on social media since early this month, showing the names of eight delegates scheduled to travel to New York, the United States, from July 13 to 19 to attend a meeting organised by a United Nations body scheduled for July 16 and 17.
Among names listed in the document signed by the ministry’s secretary-general Apri Artoto on June 29 were Dody’s wife Irma Hermawati and daughter Aurellia Tsabitha Meidirama.
The inclusion of the minister’s family in the letter sparked public criticism and allegations of misuse of state facilities. The trip was eventually canceled.
Days after the document went viral, social media was flooded with claims that Dody had reassigned some officials to regional offices, most of which were located outside Java, as retaliation for the leaked documents.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Dody confirmed the transfers, but denied it was done as a reprisal for the viral document.
“I have 38,600 employees, why shouldn’t I be allowed to reassign them?” the minister said, as quoted by Kompas.com.
During a press briefing on July 7, Apri said the inclusion of Dody’s family members was to facilitate visa applications through the Foreign Ministry, while asserting that state funds would not be used to finance their participation in the trip. He also pledged to find the source of the leak, with the secretary general saying the document was not intended for public knowledge.
Apri also threatened to push to impose legal punishment should they find any official responsible for the leak.
Since taking office in October 2024, the 60-year-old Dody, who had a background as an engineer and business ties to South Kalimantan businessman Andi "Haji Isam" Syamsuddin Arsyad, has overseen multiple rounds of personnel reassignments.
Posts circulating on social media listed more than 100 employees who had been reassigned during the tenure of the Democratic Party politician, ranging from high-ranking director generals to lower-ranking civil servants.
The latest reshuffle took place in May, when Dody appointed seven high-ranking officials, including Apri as the ministry’s secretary-general to replace his predecessor Wida Nurfaida, who had only held the post for less than a year following another shake-up in July 2025.
The repeated internal shake-ups have raised concerns among lawmakers. In a meeting in June, Yasto Soepredjo Mokoagow of the House of Representatives Commission V overseeing infrastructure said disciplinary measures, including demotion of ministry’s directors to nonstructural staff positions had created anxiety among employees.
“Civil servants at the ministry are now afraid to carry out programs,” said the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker during a meeting on June 11.
“I’m worried these cautionary measures would hamper program implementation.”
Dody has repeatedly claimed that a “deep state” exists within the ministry, likening it to termites eating away at the institution. He cited it as the reason for his decision to repeatedly restructure the ministry’s bureaucracy.
Several senior ministry officials have also been embroiled in an ongoing corruption investigation pertaining to water resources projects.
The Jakarta High Prosecutor’s Office has named several suspects in the case in June, including the ministry’s former water resources director general Dwi Purwantoro and former acting irrigation and swamp director Yosiandi Radi Wicaksono.
Responding to the suspect naming, Dody pledged he would not cover up any wrongdoings and would support the law enforcement efforts against his subordinates. As Dody faced mounting scrutiny, footage of his interactions with his subordinates have also resurfaced on social media.
One video showed him reprimanding an employee during a visit to a school construction site in East Java in April, where he was seen pointing finger at the employee saying he had made “dumb excuses”. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
