$35m loan to aid immigration office

$35m loan to aid immigration office

JAKARTA (JP): The Directorate General of Immigration has
secured a US$35 million loan from Spain to upgrade its
information system, director general M. Mudakir announced on
Wednesday.

He gave no other details on the Spanish creditor or terms of
the deal.

He said the funds would be used to speed up the realization of
the immigration office's plan, delayed due to lack of funds, to
finance installation of its computerized information system. The
immigration directorate is under the Ministry of Justice.

The new immigration information system, called Simkim, will
provide a direct link between immigration headquarters in
Jakarta, branch offices across the country and 16 immigration
attaches overseas. He said the system would ensure certainty in
checking names of those blacklisted from entering or leaving
Indonesia.

"The name of someone banned from entering the country listed
on the system, for example, could at the same time be read by
officials at the country's 83 immigration checkpoints," Mudakir
said.

Status of applicants would be easily identified from their
fingerprints, he said.

The system will also help to speed up the process of departure
and embarkation of passengers at immigration counters.

Mudakir said his office was preparing installation of the
system with the help of the University of Indonesia while
awaiting disbursement of the loan. (jun)