Company investigated for confining female workers

Company investigated for confining female workers

JAKARTA (JP): City police are investigating labor exporting
company PT Jatim Duta Pembangunan for allegedly confining 276
young women against their will for several months as they waited
to be sent to jobs abroad.

Police believe 240 of the women were confined at a three-story
Gading Serpong shop-house in Tangerang and the rest in a four-
story building on Jl. Daan Mogot in West Jakarta.

The authorities became aware of the case when two of the women
confined in Tangerang were severely injured when they tried to
escape by jumping from the building. Another women kept in West
Jakarta also was hurt on Monday when she tried to jump from an
upper floor.

The first two women, who are undergoing treatment at Assobirin
Islamic Hospital in Tangerang, were identified as Nikmatul
Hasanah, 16, and Haryati, 17. The third, Yeti, is in Sumber Waras
Hospital in West Jakarta.

Nikmatul and Hasanah suffered broken legs. Yeti has broken
legs and head injuries.

Tangerang Police officials are questioning one of the agency's
executives, Marthin, over the firm's alleged inhumane treatment
of the women.

"We would like to hear the agency's reasons why the women
tried to run away from their shelters," Tangerang Police precinct
chief Lt. Col. Pudji Hartanto said.

The other women kept at Jl. Daan Mogot were moved on Tuesday
to Jakarta Police Headquarters on Jl. Sudirman, South Jakarta.

The women were moved after the police received complaints from
Yeti's relatives about the shelter's condition.

Carrying suitcases and other possessions, the young women
gathered in front of the police detectives' unit. Some of them
declined to speak to reporters, but others encouraged their
friends to speak up about the ill-treatment.

The young women said they were barred from leaving the
shelter, with doors locked from the outside.

"They fed us like ducks and prohibited us from getting close
to the windows," said some of the women, who range in age from 16
to 30.

"We were given the same meal every day -- always spinach."

Lutfi was told by the company's branch in her hometown of
Brebes, Central Java, that she would be employed as a housemaid
in Singapore for a salary of US$240 salary per month.

"The firm never asked for cash from us to stay at the
building, but they kept our important documents, including
marriage certificates, and if we wanted to get the documents
back, we were asked to pay Rp 1 million (US$117) each," the high
school graduate said.

Most of the workers admitted they relinquished their documents
to the company because the agency said they were needed for
processing of passports and other travel documents.

The company also promised they would be sent to Singapore or
Malaysia within two months to three months.

It also promised the predeparture period would include
training and courses in English. The women said they did receive
English lessons for two to three weeks before the courses
suddenly ended.

"I've been eight months in the building on Jl. Daan Mogot, but
the work never came," Malina from Kupang in Nusa Tenggara Timur
said. She said her parents sold a plot of land to finance her
departure to the capital.

"The agency took away our freedom and violated our human
rights," 16-year-old Lutfi Diah Mayasari said.

Marthin argued: "If they didn't feel at home at the shelter,
why did they stay for two or three months? They must have been
influenced by our rival companies."

She said her company sent home dozens of workers to Surabaya
in East Java, and would send more if they insisted on returning
home.

The company has pledged to reimburse the medical expenses of
the injured workers.

Asked about the legality of the company, she said she held a
license from the Ministry of Manpower.

Tangerang Police will work with the local office of the
Ministry of Manpower and the Tangerang administration in its
investigation.

"We'll check the validity of the agency's license," Pudji
assured. (emf/41)