Free ID cards planned but officials uninformed<\/p>\n
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang<\/p>\n
The Tangerang municipal administration's manpower and
\npopulation agency has announced that, starting April 1, residents
\nmay apply for free ID cards and birth certificates.<\/p>\n
Subdistrict officials, however, replied that they were unaware
\nof the plan.<\/p>\n
The new policy is aimed at improving public services and
\neliminating bureaucracy and the imposition of illegal fees in
\nsubdistrict and district offices, where documents are processed,
\nagency chief Ahmad Kosasih said last week.<\/p>\n
Several staff members at the Cikokol subdistrict office,
\nhowever, said on Monday that they had not been notified about the
\nnew free service.<\/p>\n
One of them, Sisilawati, said that people usually paid
\nanywhere between Rp 10,000 and Rp 15,000 for an identity card,
\neven though the official fee is only Rp 3,500.<\/p>\n
\"They pay extra at their own will -- we've never asked them to
\npay more than the official fee,\" she claimed.<\/p>\n
A 22-year-old resident, Jejen Darsono, said that he paid Rp
\n25,000 for an identity card -- and still had to wait for two
\nmonths.<\/p>\n
Separately, M. Ali, chief of the Babakan subdistrict, also
\nsaid that he had not been informed about the free service of ID
\ncard applications.<\/p>\n
He said that, if the administration plans to provide free ID
\ncards, subdistrict offices must be provided with funds because
\nhis officers would need money to travel between district offices
\nto process the documents.<\/p>\n
Identity cards should be processed at the district office
\nbecause subdistrict offices do not have a computerization system
\nfor producing the cards, he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/free-id-cards-planned-but-officials-uninformed-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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