ID card checks to keep jobless out of Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): The municipality is to make changes to its routine Yustisi Operation which checks identification cards with the aim of stopping unemployed people from moving here, an official said yesterday.

Soedarsono, head of the supervision and investigation division of the city population agency, said the operation used to carry out random identification checks along major streets or door-to- door but would now be a kind of counseling program.

The program was scheduled to start in the middle of this month, he said.

"The program is to register newcomers to the city through the city's 265 subdistricts. We will also hold open counseling for the migrants," Soedarsono said.

He reiterated that the city would stop "harsh" operations.

"We will still run our Yustisi Operation, but in a more persuasive way."

Temporary city population agency data shows that 12,000 people were rounded up in the operation last year.

"We haven't finished our calculations yet but soon we will reveal the finalized data," he said.

The operation has been criticized by some as inhuman because people caught in it are sent to rehabilitation centers before eventually being sent back to their hometowns.

Door-to-door checks will now be abolished.

"We will no longer go to people's houses and check their identification cards. We really want to take a simple and more humane approach here.

"So I urge migrant workers, especially newcomers, to report to the nearest post in their subdistrict.

"To acquire a temporary identification card they must pay Rp 1,000 as per City Ordinance No. 1/1996," he said.

The municipality has also launched another routine operation which was conducted jointly by the public order office, the social service office and the police at major bus terminals -- also to stop the unemployed from entering the city.

One hundred and fifty-one migrants have been caught in this operation since Idul Fitri this year and told to go back to their hometowns.

This random operation will continue.

The municipality predicts that 300,000 would-be Jakartans will enter the city with returning holidaymakers this year.

Head of City Land Transportation Agency J.P. Sepang said yesterday that over 170,000 people had entered the city every day since Idul Fitri.

No peak influx day was expected this year as the passenger flow was stable and smooth, he said.

He said this year's holiday exodus and influx were much better organized than last year.

"So I don't think there will be an explosion in the passenger flow because there is a large but constant flow of people reentering."

The number of holidaymakers returning to the city is predicted to be 200,000 less than last year.

According to the population agency's data, 3.2 million Idul Fitri holidaymakers left the city last year.

One hundred and ninety thousand people were expected to return yesterday.

By 2 p.m. 43,000 passengers had disembarked at Pulogadung bus terminal yesterday and another 47,000 passengers at Kampung Rambutan bus terminal, both in East Jakarta.

Some 54,000 people were expected to enter via the city's six train stations in Kota, Senen, Tanah Abang, Manggarai, Jatinegara and Gambir. (edt/ind)