The true impact of the Indonesian government’s terrible bureaucracy and corruption could be seen this morning at Taman Mini, where citizens desperate to finally get their electronic identity cards (e-KTP) queued in lines far, far longer than those any tourist has ever had to wait in to see the cultural park’s attractions.
As you’re probably, Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Committee (KPK) is currently in the midst of investigating a massive corruption scandal related to the government’s e-KTP program, with numerous politicians, including House Speaker Setya Novanto, suspected of siphoning off around IDR2.3 trillion (US$169 million) of money from the program that was intended to issue every single Indonesian citizen an electronic ID card which would be harder to forge, easier to update and streamline bureaucracy.
Due to the severe underfunding of the program, which led to a shortage of even the plastic cards needed to print the IDs, many Indonesians have still not received an e-KTP card despite the program being first initiated in 2009.
So when news spread that the government would be holding a special streamlined e-KTP event at Taman Mini today where citizens could get their new ID cards printed on the spot, folks from Jakarta as well as Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi, flocked to the cultural park and started lining up as early as 6am.
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https://www.facebook.com/sapturi/posts/10208136829418203
And they kept coming. According to Kompas, the line for e-KTP hopefuls stretched across and wound through the length of Taman Mini, reaching an estimated 1 km in length. Despite the blistering heat, citizens, many armed with umbrellas, refused to be deterred in their quest to finally get the obligatory ID card and the line continued to grow even until noon.
https://www.facebook.com/edylomoy/posts/10210480576040284
If there’s any justice in Indonesia, the politicians who stole the money for the e-KTP program from the people will have to spend as much time sitting in jail as all of these citizens combined had to unnecessarily spend just to get their ID cards.
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