Nurfaizi poised to probe police payoff report

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. Nurfaizi pledged on Monday to investigate the veracity of a report that several top city police officers, including himself, took a percentage of the illegal fees charged for driver's licenses.

"I will definitely investigate the matter ... how true could that report be," Nurfaizi said without confirming or denying his alleged involvement in the case.

"Let's just stop this. All of us want the city police to remain strong. Please, write news that does not provoke people ... news should be pleasant and calm people down."

When contacted on Monday, the police source who on Friday leaked the report to journalists, said a number of senior officers had begun an investigation not into the allegations, but into who leaked the report to journalists.

"It (the probe) has nothing to do with how true the report is because our bosses know the report is authentic. They just want to find out who leaked the report," the source said.

National Police chief Lt. Gen. Rusdihardjo, who received the report from the media, vowed on Friday to investigate the case.

According to the report, several high-ranking officers in the Jakarta Police, including Nurfaizi and Traffic Police chief Col. Nyoman Sukesna, collect a portion of the illegal fees exacted for obtaining or extending driver's licenses for both private and public vehicles.

Officially, a new driver's license for motorcycles, private vehicles and public buses costs Rp 82,500, but in reality the price is Rp 150,000.

The source said that of the additional Rp 67,500, 10 percent went to the Jakarta Police chief, 30 percent to the Traffic Police chief, 25 percent to a team from the administrative unit of the Traffic Police, 10 percent each to the head of the driver's license unit and the head of the vehicle registration and identification unit, 12.5 percent was for "operational costs" and the other 2.5 percent went to the secretary to the chief of the Traffic Police.

The disparity between the official rate and the actual rate for driver's licenses is even greater for container trucks, in which an additional Rp 137,500 is reportedly collected for each license. (ylt)