Contract staff get $6 per month

JAKARTA (JP): Each of the 793 Tangerang mayoralty contract employees receive a monthly salary of Rp 52,550 (approximately US$6), says an official.

Head of the mayoralty's public relations section, Harry Mulya Zein, told Antara on Sunday that his office spent at least Rp 500 million per year on contract employees.

"We have to spend this amount of money during such a time of financial crisis," Harry said, without disclosing how the people could survive with such a limited amount of money at this time in which prices of goods and services have been skyrocketing.

He only said that the current number of contract staff at the mayoralty has already exceeded the normal capacity.

Out of the 793 employees, 45 are university graduates, 19 with bachelor degrees, 518 senior high school graduates, 53 junior high school graduates and the remaining 158 elementary school graduates, Harry explained.

The employees are tied to a one-year contract they sign in advance. They can extend their working period with a new contract, he said.

Besides the contract employees, the mayoralty also hires 4,041 civil servants to serve about 1.4 million Tangerang residents.

Last Friday, hundreds of contract employees who flunked the civil service entry examination protested the alleged demand for bribes to earn a passing grade.

They complained that only six of 382 contract employees, who took the test, passed.

One of the failed employees said: "I have tried the test five times, but did not pass it. The problem is I do not have the money for bribes, so I could not pass the test." (41/bsr)