Jacob renews threat to boycott Garuda

JAKARTA: Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea issued on Tuesday the second warning within a week to boycott Garuda Indonesia if the national flag carrier refused to cancel its plan to hike airfares for migrant workers destined for Saudi Arabia.

"If they (Garuda) insist on increasing the airfares, I will ask labor recruitment companies in the country to stop using Garuda," Jacob told Antara.

Jacob, who is a former labor activist, denied allegations that he lacked patriotism for repeatedly calling for the boycott.

"It would be inhumane to burden workers who have worked hard to save money for their trip with higher airfares," he said.

Garuda plans to scrap the special price of US$330 for workers and raise it to US$430 for business reasons.

Earlier, the head of the Gotong Royong Autonomy Body, Yunus Yamani, was also quoted by Antara as urging labor recruitment companies to boycott Garuda if the airline did not reconsider the planned airfare hike before the end of the week. -- Antara