ICW unveils graft in driver's license office

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)