Immigration hunting TB man for overstaying visa

By ELIZABETH BINNING

An Indonesian man responsible for infecting up to 20 people with tuberculosis is an overstayer who is now being hunted by the Immigration Department.

Bam Bang Sudarso was admitted to Waikato Hospital two months ago after being diagnosed with a very serious case of TB. He was released during the weekend after telling staff he wanted to return to Indonesia, but has instead gone into hiding, possibly somewhere on the Coromandel.

Immigration spokesman Brett Solvander said the department became aware of Mr Sudarso's overstayer status only after being contacted by the Herald on Friday. He should have left the country on March 23 last year after arriving on a three-month visitor's visa in January 2002.

"He made no further application to us so he is an overstayer."

Immigration officers are now trying to locate Mr Sudarso, but the details he gave to Waikato Hospital have turned out to be "bogus". Police have been asked to watch out for the man, who is believed to be in his 30s and to have also worked for a period in Tauranga.

It is not known how long Mr Sudarso had the TB infection before getting the disease, but Mr Solvander said he had not declared any such illness on his visitor's application form.

"When he applied for the visa he did not inform the Immigration Service that he had TB and obviously we did not require a medical certificate from him because he was only on a three-month visa."

Hamilton respiratory physician Dr Noel Karalus said Mr Sudarso had a very bad case of the disease for about three months but was no longer infectious at his time of release.

He did, however, require ongoing treatment. He told hospital staff he was flying home to Indonesia immediately and that he would get treatment there.