Civil servants baffled by demand

JEMBER, East Java: Dozens of civil servants who were to attend an administration course said they were told to pay an unexpected sum of hundreds of thousands of rupiah to ensure they would be accepted.

Sources quoted by Antara on Saturday said candidates were asked to pay at least Rp 300,000, a requirement which was not previously mentioned.

"We were advised to provide the money if we wanted to be accepted," a source requesting anonymity said.

The head of personnel at the administration, Kusuma Sumantri, dismissed the rumors.

He said selection for those to attend the course was done by a special board. It had selected 40 out of 83 candidates, he said.