Palu, Central Sulawesi (Antara) - The immigration office of Palu of Central Sulawesi said it is in difficulty to control foreigners coming in and going out of the province.
"We are short of manpower to control the foreigners. The Palu immigration office is too small to oversee the movements of all foreigners in the whole province," head of the Palu immigration office Tantawi said here on Tuesday.
He said the immigration office is not the only agency responsible for overseeing the movements of foreigners, adding police, and the prosecution office share the responsibility.
But the immigration office has limited capacity in manpower and fund to effectively carry out its duty, he said.
The immigration office often sent officers to areas often visited by foreigners such as the regencies of Morowali, Banggai,Donggala, and Tolitoli.
Those areas have many companies employing expatriates.
Most of the foreigners entered the province through the Mutiara Sis Aljufri airport.
The immigration office could not monitor their arrivals and departures as it is not an international airport.
"It it is an international airport, it would have permanently posted immigration officers to take record of foreign visitors," he said.(*)
