Ministry revises agreement on identity card fee

Ministry revises agreement on identity card fee

JAKARTA (JP): Authority for setting the fee for ID cards has been "returned" to provincial administrations after the Ministry of Home Affairs revised its agreement with a private firm appointed to produce the new cards.

The ministry's secretary-general, Suryatna Soebrata, said yesterday that the ministry had only suggested that the fee should range from Rp 1,000 (45 U.S. cents) to Rp 3,000.

It is up to the provincial administrations and their councils to decide on the fee, he said.

Suryatna said it is not true that the fee will be set by the ministry and PT Solusindo Mitra Sejati, the private company awarded the right to handle the process of producing the new ID cards.

In the case of Jakarta, Governor Surjadi Soedirdja and the city council will decide the fee, he said.

Suryatna conceded, however, that the memorandum of understanding between the ministry and the company, signed on Feb. 27, 1993, stated that the fee would be set by the ministry and the company.

"The deal has been revised. The new one was signed by Minister of Home Affairs Yogie S. Memet and the company president, Setya Novanto, on March 16, 1995," he said.

Suryatna met with Governor Surjadi Soedirdja yesterday to inform him about the revision. He declined to reveal to reporters why he was meeting to brief the governor on the amendment, which was signed nine months ago.

The new deal is strengthened by the Ministerial Decree No. 470/25 A/1995, dated March 24, 1995, on the appointment of the company in helping the government to develop and implement its population registration system, Suryatna said.

When asked if the revision had been made in the wake of the public outcry about the original agreement, Suryatna commented: "We improved things which were improper. We had to make some adjustments."

The ID card fee for Jakarta is currently Rp 1,000. The home affairs ministry had originally proposed to increase the fee to Rp 3,000.

Higher fees were also proposed for family cards, birth certificates and other identification documents. The ministry also proposed a hike in the fee for ID cards for foreigners, from Rp 2,000 to Rp 5,000, and of family cards for expatriates from Rp 1,000 to Rp 2,000.

Governor Surjadi Soedirdja said following the reports on the proposal that there was no reason for the city administration to impose unduly high fees for processing new ID cards.

He said the city administration itself was able to issue ID cards and that it was not necessary to award the project to private company.

The governor added that he would guarantee that the price for new ID card would be as low as possible for residents of Jakarta.

Helmy A.R. Syihab, the chairman of the city council's commission for financial affairs, said earlier that it was reasonable that the fee for a new Jakarta ID card be set between Rp 1,000 and Rp 1,500.

A new kind of identity card was introduced nationwide last August, with President Soeharto and First Lady Tien Soeharto being the first recipients of the new ID cards.

It is expected that the use of new identity card nationwide will start on Jan. 2, 1996. (32)