At least 250 job seekers cheated by brokers: Soni<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): At least 250 people applying for the State
\nMinister of Agrarian's office\/National Land Agency have been
\ncheated by brokers, Minister Soni Harsono said yesterday.<\/p>\n
After meeting with President Soeharto at Istana Merdeka
\nyesterday, Soni said the job seekers, who came to his office late
\nlast month, said they had paid between Rp 4 million (US$1,600)
\nand Rp 6 million to unidentified men who promised them jobs at
\nthe office.<\/p>\n
As many as 216 of the job seekers went directly to the
\nministry's office with letters of appointment to find out if they
\nhad been accepted, Soni said. "The others just telephoned from
\ntheir home towns."<\/p>\n
Eighty-two of the 216 people were from Lampung, 84 from East
\nJava, and the rest from other provinces.<\/p>\n
"They found out that they had been cheated after they were
\ntold that the appointment letters were falsified," said Soni.<\/p>\n
The applicants, with high school and university
\nqualifications, were told that Sudariyanto, a former deputy
\nminister, had never signed such appointment letters.<\/p>\n
They said they underwent an entrance test last December. But
\nSoni did not say where they were tested.<\/p>\n
Soni said he was very shocked by the fraud. "Sudariyanto is no
\nlonger my deputy, now he has become the minister's secretary."<\/p>\n
This was the second fraud at a government office in April
\nalone. On April 17, 288 people went to the Ministry of
\nTransmigration to start work only to find that their letters of
\nappointment were forged.<\/p>\n
Soni said he believed that none of his subordinates were
\ninvolved. He said the fraud had been reported to police, but he
\ndid not say whether police had made any arrest.<\/p>\n
The minister said recruitment at his ministry involved tight
\nand transparent selection.<\/p>\n
"People who have bribed to get a job (as civil servants) will
\nin the future abuse their position by corruption or take bribes
\nto get their money back," said Soni.<\/p>\n
In the meeting with Soeharto, the minister also reported on a
\npalm oil pilot project in South Sumatra, where a nucleus-plasma
\nscheme will be carried out.<\/p>\n
Indigenous landowners were the nucleus and the plantation
\nfirms were the plasma who would rearrange the plantation area in
\na land consolidation system, he said.<\/p>\n
Under the scheme, the farmers would not only maintain the
\nownership of the land, but would also work for the plantation
\nfirms, which are obliged to buy the farmers' products.<\/p>\n
"We involve 13 big investors who own an area of 118,000
\nhectares of land, while farmers have a total of 178,965
\nhectares," said Soni. He did not reveal the number of farmers
\ninvolved in the project.<\/p>\n
He said investors were enthusiastic with the plan because they
\ndid not necessarily have to buy the farmers' land. (06)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/at-least-250-job-seekers-cheated-by-brokers-soni-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}