Director suspended, regular flights resume
Director suspended, regular flights resume
Haidir Anwar Tanjung, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru, Riau
Bowing to pressure from striking workers, PT Riau Airlines (RAL) suspended president director Yunus Bachri while prosecutors opened an investigation into graft allegations against him.
The decision prompted striking employees, including all 11 RAL pilots, to return to work on Wednesday, meaning regular flights resumed a day after being canceled because of the strike.
Kapitra Ampera, a lawyer for PT RAL's Workers Communication Forum, said the suspension of Yunus was agreed to at 11 p.m. on Tuesday by the company's board of commissioners.
"We received a copy of the decision suspending the RAL director and the workers were informed of this decision, so they returned to work," Kapitra said.
He said the company's operations would be overseen by the commissioners until a new president director was appointed within the next 30 days.
Eleven pilots, dozens of flight attendants and other airline employees went on strike on Tuesday, demanding that Yunus be fired for corruption and incompetence.
The workers also asked the Riau Prosecutor's Office to question Yunus over the alleged embezzlement of about Rp 1.1 billion (US$129.4 million) of the fledging airline's operational funds.
In response, the prosecutor's office set up a team to open an investigation into the case.
"We received a complaint from the workers about the embezzlement of Rp 1.1 billion from the company by Yunus Bachri and we responded to it," said prosecutor Dimpuan Sialagan, who heads the team.
He said the team had questioned three people from the airline -- copilot Windy Yusnidar Natsir, finance manager Rivai and labor leader Sogi Prakoso.
The workers accused Yunus of transferring Rp 1.1 billion from the company to his personal account, and also of marking up his expenses as company director.
The workers also accused Yunus of failing to explore business opportunities that could have benefited the one-year-old airline.