RI to have more border officers

JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya: The Jayapura immigration office plans to station more officers at several key border points with Papua New Guinea (PNG) in an attempt to reduce illegal border crossings.

Immigration spokesman Surya Pranata identified the places recently as Argapura Pantai, Hamadi Pantai and Dok IX, all located in Jayapura regency.

The crossing points, he said, were often used to illegally enter PNG by chartered motorboats.

Another immigration office will also be built in Skouw village, about 75 kilometers from Jayapura, to enable the government to step up its monitoring of increased border crossings.

Indonesia and PNG have an agreement that allows local border crossers to use special identity cards.

"Many PNG nationals use the red card to enter Irian Jaya to shop here because commodities such as staple foods, furniture and electronic goods are cheaper in Indonesia," Surya told Antara.