Rika's Blog: September 2011

The Indonesian government is implementing the electronic identity card (e-ID) system, started on August 18, 2011 in Jakarta and on Sept 19, 2011 for other regions in the country. Indonesian citizens aged 17 years or older can get the e-ID, and for free. An announcement about the system is attaches in the pillar of subdistrict office’s Kebon Melati in Central Jakarta.

The e-ID Cards, New System in Indonesia

The Indonesian government is implementing the electronic identity (e-ID) cards system, started on August 18, 2011 in Jakarta and on September 19, 2011 for other regions in the country. The system managed by the Home Ministry.

The system would provide every eligible citizen with a single government identification number and will be valid for life. The government has earmarked Rp6.3 trillion or around US$730.8 million for the upgrade of the 105 citizen database for 2011 and 2012.

The government delivered the equipment needed to collect personal data from residents to sub-districts. The equipment includes desktop computers, fingerprint scanners, iris scanners, cameras and modem.

The residents needed to visit their local sub-district office to provide basic information and have their biometric data taken. The information would then be sent to the Home Ministry database to be validated. The Home Ministry promised one week after the data collection, residents are supposed to receive their new IDs. Around 7 million of Jakarta’s estimated 9.6 million residents are expected to get the new identity cards by the end of this year, and by the end of next year for residents in other regions.

The e-ID cards will contain information about the holder, including marital status, blood type, parent’s names, employment, physical or mental disabilities, birth certificate, divorce certificate, place and date of birth, biometric finger print of all fingers, iris pattern and a photo of the subject.

The Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi said e-ID cards would provide accuracy in voter counts for general and regional elections. State security would also benefit as the use of two IDs could be minimized as terrorists and other criminals usually hold multiple identity cards.

The Home Ministry estimated that there are at least 9 million residents in the country hold multiple identity cards. Generally, the multiple ID cards belong to people who already moved from their home town to other areas but failed to report their departure to the local authorities.

However, critics have doubted the project’s feasibility since more than a month after officials started collecting data from residents for the e-ID cards program, none of the eligible citizens have received their new e-ID cards.

In Jakarta, for instance, Defi Ekayanti, Head of Population and Civil Registration in Bendungan Hilir Sub-district, Central Jakarta, said that she don’t know when the citizens will receive their New e-ID cards. The computer in his office can’t connect to the Home Ministry database to validate the citizens’ data.

Critics also saying that the project’s feasibility would do more harm than good since the project has been marred by technical glitches and corruption allegations from its inception. Program for other regions, for instance, was postponed after equipment deliveries to district offices were delayed. Government Watch, an anti-graft watchdog found 11 procurement violations related to the e-ID project in the pre-bidding, bidding and project implementation phases.

Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi ensured that by Sept 18 all sub-district offices in Jakarta and 195 districts in other regions had received the equipment needed to make the cards. But in fact, some districts in other regions not received yet the equipment. Some districts had received the equipment but it’s lacked the electricity and internet network.

Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi ensured will achieve the target of distributing e-ID cards to all eligible citizens by the end of 2012. He has stated that he will resign from his job if the Home Ministry fails to fulfill its target.

“We are now focusing on the collection and validation of data from residents,” Gamawan said in a hearing with the Commission II of the House of Representative at Senayan, Jakarta, on Sept 19, 2011.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011