Agency denies firing employee arbitrarily

Agency denies firing employee arbitrarily

JAKARTA (JP): The chairman of the Pluit Coordinating Agency
has denied accusations he transferred an employee for reporting
irregularities in land reclamation projects.

"That is not true. He was transferred because he failed to do
his job. I gave him repeated verbal warnings, but he did not
change his attitude," Darrundono, chairman of the Pluit
Coordinating Agency, told reporters at a press conference here
yesterday.

He explained that Misyafril Wahab was relieved of his position
as the head of the technical maintenance sub-department of the
agency. Wahab is now a sub-department staffer posted with the
Waste Management Team.

Recently, Wahab filed a complaint with the City Council saying
he was fired because he reported deviations in land reclamation
projects in Kapuk Muara and Muara Baru in North Jakarta.

Wahab had reported that the height of the land in the
reclamation area was only 2.7 meters, while the plan stated that
it should be 3 meters high. He told the City Council that the
report caused him to be demoted to a lower rank.

Wahab also filed his complaint with the Civil Service
Administration Agency and the Secretary of the Management of
Operational Development who said that he should have been
rewarded for reporting the deviations.

Darrundono denied that there were any deviations in the
projects, saying that when Wahab filed the report, the land
reclamation was still underway.

He said that the only thing that hampered the projects was the
fact that land appropriation was being done by a private company.

"The contract stated the contractors should finish work in 18
months, but they could not do so because a private company
claimed some of the land," he explained.

PT Hustani Cipta Jaya worked at Kapuk Muara and finished its
project on Nov. 22 last year, while PT Pluit Sakti Kharisma,
which worked at Muara Baru, finished its project on July 26.

"We have already checked the finished projects and the height
of the land is three meters, well in line with the plan,"
Darrundono said.

He said that the main reason why Wahab made that accusation is
because he could not face the fact that he was removed from his
position. (yns)