Latief warns officials about illegal levies<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief yesterday
\nwarned his subordinates in the regions that he will punish them
\nseverely if they are caught imposing levies on members of the
\npublic they serve.<\/p>\n
\"Don't be surprised if the head office takes stern action,\"
\nLatief said when opening a four-day conference with senior
\nministry officials and the heads of the ministry's provincial
\noffices.<\/p>\n
The ministry has already removed a number of officials in the
\npast who were suspected of charging unofficial levies. But the
\npractice has remained rampant to this day, he said.<\/p>\n
He singled out the Directorate General for Industrial
\nRelations and Workers Standards and the Directorate General for
\nWorkers Placement as the most notorious for imposing levies.<\/p>\n
He placed the burden of improving the image of the ministry on
\nthe regional chiefs. \"The officials should feel ashamed if their
\nsubordinates are caught collecting illegal levies,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Latief, a former businessman himself, is heading the
\ngovernment's campaign to phase out levies, official and
\notherwise, to ease the burden on companies now under strong
\npressure from foreign competition.<\/p>\n
As the minister most responsible for overseeing the welfare of
\nIndonesian workers, Latief has found that each time he tries to
\nraise official minimum wages, business leaders balk by demanding
\nthat the government eliminate the various levies that have been a
\nbig burden on their cost of operations.<\/p>\n
One of the objectives of the conference is to draft the
\nnational manpower planning for Indonesia for the period to 2018,
\nthe end of the 10th Five Year Plan, and prepare the nation for
\nthe next century, which Latief describes as the era of openness
\nand free trade.<\/p>\n
Latief said that a series of reforms carried out by the
\ngovernment in favor of workers in recent years has helped push
\nworkers to side with the government.<\/p>\n
\"We have to take advantage of this momentum, especially in
\nwinning the upcoming general election (in 1997),\" he said,
\nwithout elaborating.<\/p>\n
These reforms, which include strengthening the workers' union,
\nhave silenced Indonesian critics abroad who have attacked
\nIndonesia's industrial relations, he said.<\/p>\n
Latief also underlined Indonesia's drive to send workers
\nabroad, pointing out that by 2000, some 2.5 million Indonesians
\nwill be working overseas, whose total remittances are expected to
\nreach $12.5 billion a year. (16)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/latief-warns-officials-about-illegal-levies-1447893297",
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