Internal dispute among labor exporters drags on

JAKARTA (JP): The row in the Association of Labor Export Companies (Apjati) heightened yesterday with the government- backed leader threatening to take his opponents to court unless they surrendered the funds belonging to the association.

Abdullah Puteh, the chairman of the government-backed executive board, demanded the old board to surrender the association's bank accounts and their books peacefully, or face a court order.

He said he has asked banks to freeze the association's accounts, which are still controlled by members of the old board.

He did not give an estimate of the amount involved.

"You figure it out yourself. Each member paid a membership fee of Rp 5 million (US$2,127) and workers have to pay Rp 20,000 each," Puteh told reporters after he met with Minister of Manpower Abdullah Latief, who is also the association's patron.

Puteh, a politician of the ruling political group Golkar, was elected as Apjati chairman in a congress attended by 111 of the association's 128 members last week. The congress was boycotted by members of the old executive board, headed by Mahfudz Djaelani, who called the event "unconstitutional".

The industry has continually been beset by politicking by companies amidst pressure from the government to restrict the number of companies in what is regarded as a lucrative business.

Apjati was established in May last year at the urging of the government to instill some order in the industry. Lack of professionalism among workers' exporting companies has been blamed for some of the problems facing many Indonesian workers overseas.

One of the tasks of the association was to run basic training courses for Indonesians before they were sent abroad.

Puteh said that during the meeting, Latief asked the association to be run more professionally, and that its finances should be made transparent.

He promised that under his leadership, he would submit a financial report every three months to members and the minister. "I have no problem about transparency," he said.

Anton Sihombing, secretary-general of the new board, disclosed that the board plans to "borrow" between Rp 2 million and Rp 3 million from each member to finance the association's activities.

But the fees charged on workers sent abroad would be scrapped, he said.

The new board will be working out of an office at the Persada Executive Club in Halim Perdanakusuma, East Jakarta, and not from the GKBI building, the secretariat of the old board. (ste)