70 RI workers stranded in Sabah

70 RI workers stranded in Sabah

MATARAM, West Nusa Tenggara: Seventy workers from here were stranded in Sabah, Malaysia, after being duped out of cash by the manpower supplier who sent them abroad, Antara reported yesterday.

The workers, who were recruited last year by the PT Sabrina Pramitha labor export company, were reportedly treated as slave labor by their Malaysian employers.

The manpower agent charged each of the workers Rp 350,000 (US$152) for transportation and told them they would be employed by a plywood company at a monthly salary of Rp 400,000.

Upon arrival in Malaysia, the workers were taken to and forced into hard labor at a coconut plantation in Lahat Datu.

The employer refused to pay them, saying he had "bought" each of them for Rp 475,000 each from a tekong (middleman) in Nunukan, East Kalimantan.

Six workers managed to return home and report the problem to the local manpower office and the city council in Sumbawa.

Murdianto, the acting head of the provincial manpower office, said authorities will investigate the allegations. (sim)