Residents protest airport extortionists<\/p>\n
TANGERANG (JP): Residents of Benda village, near the Soekarno-
\nHatta International Airport here, have demanded that the
\nTangerang authorities close a number of illegal travel agents on
\nJl. Husain Sastranegara.<\/p>\n
According to the residents, the agents have no permits and are
\nonly a front for the owners to extort money from Indonesian
\nworkers returning from overseas.<\/p>\n
Residents Madang, 29, and Agus, 35, said that the locals,
\nupset with the belated efforts of the mayoralty office, recently
\napproached one of the travel agent offices to press their
\ndemands.<\/p>\n
The residents said the presence of the agents in the area have
\ndisturbed the locals, since many of the newly arrived Indonesian
\nworkers had often been seen running from the offices after being
\nsqueezed for money by the agency staff.<\/p>\n
\"Once, a female worker from Malaysia, Sarkati of Central Java,
\nran to our neighborhood from one of the offices. She said she was
\nforced to pay 200 Malaysian ringgit for the transportation fees
\nto her hometown in Pati,\" Agus said.<\/p>\n
Police and residents said the illegal agents ran their
\nbusinesses by deploying their staff at the airport compound,
\npretending to be workers who had just arrived and were looking
\nfor transportation to their hometowns.<\/p>\n
They would then lure the real workers to their offices,
\nlocated near the airport, where they would extort the workers'
\nmoney.<\/p>\n
According to Tangerang Police chief Lt. Col. Pudji Hartanto,
\nhis office has reported the case to the Tangerang mayoralty
\noffice.<\/p>\n
\"There has been no response so far,\" he said.(41\/bsr)<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/residents-protest-airport-extortionists-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }