ICW unveils graft in driver's license office

JAKARTA (JP): People do not have to be able to drive to obtain a drivers license in this city. A drivers license can be obtained quickly -- even within an hour or two -- as long as they have the money. No such thing as a driving test, or written test.

Non-governmental organization, Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) presented their survey results on Thursday which reveal just how terrible and corrupted the procedure for obtaining a drivers license in the city is.

Drivers licenses are obtained at the police station on Jl. Daan Mogot, West Jakarta, where around 2,000 people apply for the document every day.

The ICW survey involved a total of 300 respondents who had obtained a drivers license in the past six months.

Out of the total respondents, nearly half of them, or 43.4 percent used the service of middlemen.

Sixty two people, or 20.6 percent obtained it with the help of an "insider" in the police station and 5.4 percent obtained it collectively.

"The reason given why they did not obtain it by themselves was because they didn't have the time and because of the complicated bureaucracy in the police station," Heni Yulianto from ICW's public service performance monitoring division told a media conference.

About 100 people, or 30.6 percent in the survey, were apparently still willing to obtain a drivers license by themselves.

"But only 9.8 percent actually paid the official fee. In the end, many of them paid as much as those people who used middlemen," Heni said.

The official fee for a drivers license is Rp 52,500 (US$4.70).

Through middlemen, or insiders, almost half of the respondents had to pay between Rp 101,000 and Rp 150,000.

ICW's coordinator Teten Masduki said that there were fees that had to be paid at almost every counter, with no receipts provided.

"Speaking from personal experience, I had to pay an extra Rp 50,000 for a health examination, insurance premium, form, registration, photograph and license jacket. A receipt was only given for the insurance premium of Rp 15,000," he said.

Teten estimated that there were some 500 middlemen around the police station. "And police always give them priority," he said.

As for the driving test, the poll showed that even out of those who obtained the license by themselves, nearly 40 percent of them did not take the test.

In fact, corruption in the driving license application process is not new at all.

The document used to be processed at the city police headquarters on Jl. Jend. Sudirman, but in 1997, it was moved to Jl. Daan Mogot, not only because the police headquarters could no longer accommodate the increasing number of applicants, but also in the hope that it would curb the practice of corruption.

Earlier last year, a massive operation involving military police was conducted at the new location on Jl. Daan Mogot. No middlemen dared to offer their services there for a while. After a week, however, things were back to "normal."

According to Teten, ICW will present its report to the National Police Chief.

"Hopefully, the police will pay more attention to improve their services to public, rather than making a fuss about their leaders," he said.

In the future, Teten said, ICW would propose a life-long license, not a five-year license like at present.

"So, people could only obtain it once in their lives. Therefore, if there's still any corruption, it would be reduced," he asserted.(hdn)