Ex-bank workers threaten to reveal misdeeds April 20
JAKARTA (JP): Laid-off bank workers have threatened to disclose on April 20 acts of graft and malfeasance allegedly committed by their former employers, central bank officials and other state officials unless their demands are met.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a spokesman for the former bank employees insisted on Saturday that the crimes would be revealed during a huge gathering, which would be attended by thousands of former bank employees, at the Senayan sports hall in Central Jakarta.
"We'll invite students, noted figures and government officials to hear the data we have compiled," the reliable source told The Jakarta Post.
He added that documentation would be handed over to the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) so it could take action, especially considering the material losses inflicted on the state due to the alleged crimes.
The source, however, refused to estimate total state losses caused by the alleged crimes or give examples of the purported offenses.
The workers were dismissed last month by their employers following a massive government cleanup of bad banks.
A total 17,000 male and female bank employees were laid off when the government closed 38 banks, including three owned by former president Soeharto's two sons and a daughter, on March 13.
Another bank source said last week that after the announcement of the closures, many employees spent two days and nights at their respective workplaces to copy documents on the alleged crimes in case their employers refused to give fair severance pay.
The dismissed bank employees recently held a series of rallies to demand that bank owners pay them severance pay amounting to at least 10 times the value of that stated in existing rules.
Their latest rallies were staged on Friday in front of the Bank Indonesia (the central bank) building complex in Central Jakarta and at the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) office in the Wisma Bank Danamon building in South Jakarta.
After a deadlock meeting with executives of IBRA, the group of some 1,000 protesters vowed to take to the streets on Monday to press their request unless the government-sponsored agency could disclose the final amount offered by either the agency or the bank owners for the ex-bank workers.
During Friday's meeting, IBRA chief Glenn Yusuf said the final decision would be announced next Thursday.
But according to the source, Glenn would fail to keep his promise because IBRA would not hold a meeting with owners of the liquidated banks until next Saturday evening.
"The meeting will still be about our pesangon (severance pay)," he said on Saturday.
Prior to a huge gathering at Senayan on Sunday, the displaced bank workers, with the support of colleagues from other provinces who just arrived in the capital, will hold other massive rallies in the city on Tuesday or Wednesday.
"Our fellow bank employees from the other provinces have been sent here by their friends to directly meet IBRA executives to discuss the same issue," he said.
The source, however, could not guarantee that documentation of the alleged crimes would be released to the public should their demands be fulfilled.
"We first need to consolidate among us," he said.
During Friday's rallies, a sales representative for an American food supplement walked among the protesting bank workers, distributing tiny papers inviting the dismissed workers to join the ranks of his company's representatives.
"I know you're (bank employees) in trouble, why I don't give you some help," Oliver said.
He offered a monthly income of between Rp 2 million to Rp 6 million to those interested in selling the products.
"You just have to meet me, pay a Rp 297,000 registration fee and you'll get kits for starting your own trade business," he said, adding that those who met the prerequisites would get discounts for all products offered.
Contacted on Saturday, Oliver refused to say how many dismissed bank workers had joined his business. (emf)