Few people apply for death certificates

Few people apply for death certificates

JAKARTA (JP): Head of the city's Civil Registration Office,
Herusuko, said yesterday that Jakarta citizens' awareness of the
importance of death certificates is still low.

"We only issue about 4,000 death certificates a year. This is
quite a small number given the fact that, on average, 24,000
people die in Jakarta every year," Herusuko said in a hearing
with members of Commission C of the City Council.

Herusuko was quoted by Antara as saying that most bereaved
families ignore the importance of death certificates because they
think they are unnecessary. "They are not yet aware that such
certificates are very useful."

He said death certificates help the families of deceased
people with the matters of inheritance and burial.

Herusuko said his office would be co-operating closely with
the city's Cemetery Board, hospitals and officials at the sub-
district level.

"This will be helpful for us in monitoring the number of
deaths in the city," he said.

He said that his office had issued 3,431 death certificates in
1992/1993, 3,557 certificates in 1993/1994 and 2,520 certificates
in l994/95 (up to last month). The office records the issue of
certificates according to the financial year, which starts in
April.

A death certificate costs Rp 25,000 for an Indonesian citizen.
For a foreign citizen the cost is Rp 5,000.

Herusuko also expressed concern about the low awareness of
Jakarta people regarding Birth Certificates, Marriage
Certificates and Divorce Certificates.

"It is mostly because they are still poorly informed about the
importance of those certificates," he said. "There are also many
people who cannot afford to arrange for such certificates."

Herusuko acknowledged that it often takes a long time for his
office to process a death certificate because the process is
still carried out manually and the certificates are written by
hand.

He said his office had recently discovered 500 false birth
certificates.

"The forgeries were uncovered when the holders of the
certificates went to the city's Civil Registration Office to have
the certificates validated. It turned out that the copies of the
certificates were not registered with the office," Herusuko said,
adding that the case had yet to be reported to police. (bas)