Business back to normal at driver's license unit

Business back to normal at driver's license unit

JAKARTA (JP): What time is it? Ask anyone at the Jakarta
Police driver's license processing unit on Jl. Daan Mogot, West
Jakarta, and you might get confused.

There are nine clocks on the wall on the first floor of the
new building, where hundreds of people impatiently wait for their
turn to process their application every day, but the clocks show
different times.

Take a close look and you'll find that seven of them are
actually dead.

Unbelievable, isn't it? But if you care to observe more
closely, you'll find that in fact, a lot of things do not work
smoothly here.

First, as soon as you get out of your car, a friendly man will
give you a big smile and offer to help you.

"Making a new driver's license is very easy. You don't have to
take any test. What you need to do is to have your picture and
finger prints taken. It won't last long, only four hours. For
this, only Rp 190,000," you would be told.

If you don't look interested, he will still try to persuade
you: "You can make the payment after you get your license. I
guarantee."

The official price for a private car driver's license is only
Rp 52,500, excluding the Rp 10,000 insurance fee and Rp 5,000
health examination fee.

Just like many other police units, this driver's license
processing unit is notorious for its corruption. But starting May
1, the police imposed a strict control over the process.
Everything was done in accordance with the existing procedures.
As a result, many people who did not prepare themselves well
failed the test. Police record that of the 1,000 daily
applicants, between 200 to 400 applicants fail.

However, many parties doubt the consistence of this strict
control while the scalpers and middlemen believe that things
would be back to "normal" after May 20.

On Saturday, a driving school instructor in Tangerang gave
good news to the students. He said that the school could resume
helping them with the driver's license application. Those living
in Jakarta are charged Rp 210,000 each, while the Tangerang
residents have to pay Rp 230,000 each. This is Rp 20,000 more
than the previous tariff.

Two weeks ago, one of the students, Lina, went to the police
license processing unit to process her application. She failed
the practical test and returned to the unit Saturday for her
second test.

"Why should you take the trouble to take the test?" a
policeman told her. "It will take hours. Just let me help you and
you can go straight to have your photo taken."

He asked for Rp 40,000.

Bewildered, she ignored the offer and went directly to the
counter, only to hear the complaints of several applicants who
had been waiting for hours for their turn to take a practical
test.

Several motorcycles were seen parked in the area where the
test should take place. But no test was in progress.

Two weeks ago, for the sake of efficiency, there were four
applicants in one car. But now, one car for one applicant and
during the test, you can negotiate how the test should be
performed, whether you have to drive through a mounting spot or
not and how you like the result.

"An applicant told me she was asked to pay Rp 20,000, while
another one said he paid Rp 10,000," Lina said.

Lina said she was frustrated and gave up. She finally agreed
with the policeman, who asked for Rp 40,000 for a speedy process.

"In less than two hours, I got my driver's license. But I feel
ashamed of myself," Lina said.

In late March, a traffic policeman who refused to be named
daringly distributed to reporters copies of a report which
revealed that several top Jakarta Police officers, including
chief Maj. Gen. Nurfaizi, collect a portion of the illegal fees
exacted for obtaining or extending driver's licenses for both
private and public transportation vehicles.

National Police chief Lt. Gen. Rusdihardjo once vowed to
conduct a thorough probe into the report.

Unfortunately, there has been no announcement from his office
about the progress of the investigation that he had pledged.

Late last week, the vast Daan Mogot driver's license
processing unit office compound was already packed with brokers,
including those attired in police uniform and people who
professed to be reporters, offering services to bypass time-
consuming tests. (sim/bsr)