Migrants to have new ID cards

JAKARTA: The Jakarta Population and Civil Registration Agency will replace temporary ID cards for migrants with the new Migrant ID cards.

"The new Migrant ID cards will be recorded at the city administration database on population so that we can easily monitor where the migrants are residing," said the head of the agency Sylviana Murni on Thursday.

She said the Migrant ID cards would be valid for one year.

"All requirements will be arranged in the Gubernatorial Decree after the City Council endorses the new population bylaw," she said, as reported by the administration official website beritajakarta.com.

The agency calculated 15,570 migrants in 2003 alone and were fined for not possessing Jakarta ID cards. The fines netted Rp 88 million (US$10,476), said Padmini, a staffer at the agency.

The city administration has been struggling in curb the migrants from other areas because the population in the capital has reached 8.5 million. -- JP