Police to closely monitor vehicle registration firm

Police to closely monitor vehicle registration firm

JAKARTA (JP): The police promised yesterday to tightly
supervise a private company to which it has given a monopoly over
the administration of vehicle registration documents.

National Police Spokesman Brig. Gen. I Ketut Ratta said that
the government would not hesitate to review the contract if the
company, PT Sakra Bima Mandala Persada, failed to meet the
public's expectations.

"We have chosen the company to facilitate the registration of
vehicle documents,' Ratta told journalists.

He was responding to mounting public concern that the
appointed firm might put its profit above the public interest.

Jana said: "The public has to learn that we also need money
even to get the forms from the police."

The company, whose chief commissioner is businessman Hutama
Mandala Putra, has been entrusted by the city municipality and
police headquarters to handle payments for motorized vehicle
registration documents previously handled by the police. Hutama
is President Soeharto's third son.

PT Sakra Bima has appointed eight banks with 53 counters to
receive the payments and attend to the documents' registration
with the city police. All but one of the eight banks are
privately-owned.

Jana Yusuf, the company's director for general affairs, told
The Jakarta Post that working with state banks would complicate
procedures.

"We tried it once but it's quite complicated," he said.

Applicants will pay the company about Rp 10,000 (US$4.50) for
the processing of motorcycle registration documents and about Rp
20,000 for car registration documents, varying according to type
and model.

According to PT Sakra Bima's managing director, M. Djufri
Thalib, the primary aim of the operation is to increase the
"comfort" of vehicle owners attending to registration documents.

Previously, vehicle owners have had to jostle in small,
crowded rooms at the joint police-city administrative offices,
one of which is in East Jakarta -- for residents of East and
North Jakarta -- while the other is at the city police
headquarters.

Under the agreement signed between the firm and the seven
private banks last week, the public can have their documents
processed by paying either at their offices or at the branches of
the banks. Previously, only the city administration-owned Bank
DKI was appointed to receive the payments.

Today, applicants may choose any of the 53 bank counters when
attending to the processing of their vehicle documents. After
filling in the form available at the banks, the applicants pay
the regular taxes plus the service charges.

The forms are then sent by the firm for processing at the
joint police-city administrative offices. Under normal
circumstances, vehicle owners' processed documents are returned
to them within two days.

While it was previously possible to have documents processed
in as little as six hours, that involved a six-hour wait in the
hot and crowded offices.

The private banks involved are Bank BII, Sewu Bank, Orient
Bank, Astria Bank, Utama Internasional Bank, Prasidha Bank and
Indotrade Bank.

Ratta urged the company to immediately review its service
charges if the public found them too expensive.

Meanwhile, city legislators questioned the lawfulness of the
cooperation between the government and the firm after
ascertaining that the governor had not given his formal approval
to the scheme.

"According to the prevailing regulations, (such cooperation)
has to be agreed upon by the city police and the local
administration because it relates to the regional budget," said
Fatommy Asaari, deputy chairman of commission for government
affairs.

Legislator Sahala P. Sinaga of the commission in charge of
financial affairs questioned the firm's right to appoint so
many private banks as its partners.

"Why don't they choose only Bank DKI, which already has many
branches all around the city?" he asked. (bsr/12)