Police Certificate and Bureaucracy as only the Indonesians can do it

November and December 2009

As part of my clearance for another VSO placement I need to acquire a police letter of good behaviour – the nearest equivalent to the UK CRB check. I started this process at the end of October by requesting a letter from the hospital director, requesting the police letter. Once this was produced I went with one of the nurses to the main Kantor Polisi on the island to the Departmen Inteligensi where I had get every page of every identification document and immigration paper I owned copied four times along with the letter from the Direktor. I was then given three envelopes containing all this information along with copies of a letter to the Departmen Inteligensi, Kantor Polda, Kupang requesting they issue the letter of good behaviour.

This therefore involved me in an unscheduled trip to Kupang. I had hoped to go one day and return the next but no such luck. I arrived at the office about 15:00 and although the staff were still there (and due to be there until 17:00) they were not keen to process any documents that day; so after a long discussion I left to return the next morning at 09:00. All was going well, I was taken to another office and had two full sets of finger prints taken and two additional thumb prints. I then had to get 8 passport size photographs and got issues with another identification card. I then went back to the Departmen Inteligensi and as they checked through all my documents I was asked for my SKLD – a police registration card; unfortunately I had not got one. I was then told that without this I could not get the police letter and that as it was so long since I got my KITAS visa even if I had one issued there would probably be a problem in Jakarta and they would still not issue the letter. Initially I was given the blame and I felt things were turning a bit nasty. Then they put the RSUD for not taking me to be registered and for the local police for not having picked up the fact I did not have the document. They phoned both the Direktor and the local police. In the end I was told I would have to go back to Rote to get my SKLD processed. A Kupang agent that VSO use to help to facilitate the processing of our immigration papers offered to help me to sort this without a visit to Baa but that is a story that is not for publication – suffice it to say after 1.5 days of waiting I went back to Baa.

I then had to get more letters signed from the Direktor and a copy of the document permitting me to work. One of the letters had to have an official stamp costing 6,000 Rp on it. There was a delay in getting all this as Pak Suardi went to Flores for a meeting. Once I had everything I went to the Kantor Polisi again and filled out a form in duplicate – this meant hand writing it twice and had a general discussion with the staff, mostly around dancing at parties and my trips to Nembrala (both of which had been observed – well it is the Departmen Inteligensi! I was then told the person who needed to sign the SKLD letter was in a meeting and would be a long time so it was suggested I come back besok.

Besok was the day I was going to Kupang and had to leave the hospital at 10:30 to get the ferry so the driver arranged to take me to the Kantor Polisi at 08:00, he was down town at that time and had not returned at 09:00. The other driver was too busy to take me – he was washing the ambulance and then unable to take me in case the ambulance was needed. I was about to get an ojek (could not use our bike as John had gone down town on it to buy my ferry ticket) when the post delivery driver was dispatched to take me on the hospital bike. It would have to be the day that the road was shut for surfacing and we had to go on a long detour over unmade roads and fields. I had expected to be there for a long time as I knew the SKLD needed a photograph and I had not been asked for that yesterday; but I arrived and was given a letter and copies of all my documents. When I questioned it I discovered – in case you had not already guessed They just recommend to the Kantor Polda in Kupang that I am issued with an SKLD. I got back to the hospital with 15 minutes to spare before I had to go for the ferry.

When I reached Kupang I went straight to the Kantor Polda in the hope they would process the SKLD. The initial reaction was again come back besok; but when I explained I was flying to Maumere pagi-pagi besok Pak Made agreed to process the paperwork. I had a couple of very long forms to fill in the first did have an English translation but the second was in Bahasa Indonesian only. After a lot of discussion I think the upshot was that as I was leaving in February there really was not point in processing the SKLD and they would just send for my police clearance to Jakarta. I was told it could take 3 months and I was asked for a relatively high sum for postage but when I asked for a receipt the amount reduced.

Well all I have to do is wait – well so I thought! Two and a half weeks later I received a message that another letter was needed. The sponsor letter from the Direktor and to be reproduced with the address of the office in Jakarta as the too address! Now I wait again.