Surjadi vows low fee for new ID card
Surjadi vows low fee for new ID card
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja has promised that residents will not have to pay dearly for new ID cards in response to reports card fees would be raised to Rp 3,000.
He said the administration had no reason to impose unduly high fees for processing new ID cards because the necessary equipment, including computer systems, are already in place. Computerization should not mean a high increase in the fee, he added.
"Things are still being discussed with the City Council. But, hopefully the new fee will not be a burden to residents," he said.
The city administration has proposed increasing the fee for processing ID cards from Rp 1,000 (45 U.S. cents) to up to Rp 3,000.
The administration also wants higher fees for family cards, birth certificates and other kinds of identity documents.
Raising the fee for ID cards for foreigners, from Rp 2,000 to Rp 5,000, and raising the fee for family cards for expatriates from Rp 1,000 to Rp 2,000 is also planned.
A new kind of identity card was introduced nationwide last August, with President Soeharto and First Lady Tien Soeharto the first recipients of the new ID cards.
Unlike previously issued IDs the new cards contain citizenship numbers.
The issuance of this number, which is valid for other documents as well, is designed to improve the government's management of the population.
The proposal to raise the fees was made after a private company, PT Solusindo Mitra Sejati, a consultant for the Home Affairs Ministry, joined the management system for the issuance of ID cards.
Burden
Some councilors said on Saturday they expected the increase in the fee for IDs to remain affordable to all Jakarta residents.
The chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) faction, Lukman Mokoginta, said that any increase should be calculated carefully on the basis of increases in production costs.
"The Rp 1,000 fee imposes no burden on the populace. If there should be any increase, the addition should be calculated based on the increased quality of products, such as paper and printing materials. The increase should be no more than 350 percent," he told The Jakarta Post.
He cited Rp 1,200 or Rp 1,500 as reasonable fees, not Rp 3,000.
Saud Rahman of the United Development Party shared his opinion.
"If the administration wants Rp 3,000 for ID cards, it must make sure that the fee covers all related services," Saud said.
He said that even though the current fee is only Rp 1,000, the real amount paid by ID card applicants could be up to Rp 5,000. Officials call the extra money "service fees".
Applicants who want ID cards processed quickly, or who lack the necessary personal documents have to pay even more. They could be charged up to Rp 20,000 for a card. (32/03)