$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)