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)