Arientha Primanita – The city administration launched a string of raids against people without valid identification cards on Thursday, as part of efforts to improve security following the deadly twin suicide bombings in South Jakarta, an official said.
"The raids aim to free the city of people who don't have valid identity cards," said Edison Sianturi, head of the population and civil registry agency, which is in charge of monitoring and controlling the capital's population.
Edison said the raids, which netted 851 violators in five municipalities, were routine operations but they have become critically important following the JW Marriot and Ritz-Carlton bombings on July 17 that killed nine people and injured 53 others.
At least 580 officials were deployed for the raids. Aside from the population and civil registry agency, the administration also enlisted the help of the public order agency, immigration office, housing agency, social affairs agency, the police and judges.
Petra Rosanti Purba, an official from the population and civil registry agency, said that of the 851 people nabbed in Thursday's raids, the biggest number were in East Jakarta with 328 violators; West Jakarta, 156; South Jakarta, 144; North Jakarta, 124; and Central Jakarta, 99.
According to Petra, most of those flagged in the operations were released after their family members showed their identification cards while others were tried on the spot and fined between Rp 25,000 ($2.50) and Rp 50,000.
A city bylaw stipulates that residents who cannot produce valid identity cards are fined up to Rp 5 million or imprisoned for three months.
Edison said four foreigners from China, the Netherlands, France and Saudi Arabia were also caught in the raids. "The foreigners stayed in rented rooms. They failed to report their presence to local authorities," he said, adding that the immigration office would deal with them.
He said the city administration also urged local community heads to be aware of visitors in their area and to teach local residents about the importance of having identity cards.
When asked about people taking bribes from residents applying for new ID cards and from those renewing their old ones, Edison said people should report such incidents to the municipality.
"We will take firm action against them," he said, adding that his agency would first evaluate Thursday's raid before resuming in September. He also said the agency would conduct five more raids until the end of this year as part of a routine security campaign.
BeritaJakarta.com, the city's official news portal, reports that there have been 246 operations registered in the civil registry from 2004 to 2008. From these raids, the agency netted 49,664 people, of whom 23,490 people were found to have no IDs, collecting Rp 415.6 million in fines.