Agency undercuts police with illegal tickets

JAKARTA (JP): The City Traffic and Land Transportation Control Agency (DLLAJ) has issued illegal tickets to fine traffic violators, reliable police sources disclosed Wednesday.

Showing a copy of the fake, white tickets, a police source, who asked not to be identified, said the tickets have been used to fine traffic violators in East and West Jakarta.

By law only police have the authority to issue tickets for traffic offenders.

Another police source, who also asked to remain anonymous, said a number of traffic violators in South Jakarta have also been ticketed by local DLLAJ officers using the bogus tickets.

The sources alleged that the tickets were approved by the heads of the respective DLLAJ local offices.

After being ticketed by DLLAJ officers, violators were required to come to court to pay the fines, the sources said.

According to the existing law, DLLAJ officers are only allowed to identify violators and hand over their information to police, who will then issue legal, red-colored tickets. Later, the violators have to go to a bank appointed by the police to pay the fine or appear in court before getting back their documents or vehicles which are detained.

The sources said that officials in charge at the appointed bank have refused to receive payments of the illegal, white- tickets.

Courts

There was no confirmation from city courts whether they had received payments from violators ticketed by the DLLAJ officers in question.

The sources only said that some of the courts have already summoned traffic violators fined by the DLLAJ officers who used the bogus tickets.

The sources said that the head of Jakarta's DLLAJ office, JP Sepang, had been informed of the ongoing scam.

The fake tickets displayed by the police source were issued by the East Jakarta DLLAJ office, located on Jl. Taman Jatibung. The tickets were approved by the head of the office, Abdul Halim. A total of 20 types of traffic violations are written on the back of each ticket.

The ticket, bearing the issuance number of 00177, charged Janudin D. Carban, a driver of a M-26 Mikrolet public vehicle, with failing to wear a uniform while driving the car early last month. It was also written on the fake ticket that Janudin, a resident of Kampung Tambun, Bintaro Jaya, Bekasi, was required to appear at the East Jakarta court on May 14.

Under a new traffic law, fines for minor traffic violations range from Rp 5,000 (US$2.30) up to Rp 60.000 ($27.90).(bsr)