Jobless trainees to sue govt over missing funds

JAKARTA (JP): At least 20 recently dismissed workers who have just completed an eight-month training program will sue the government for failing to fulfill its pledge to supply them with credit of Rp 100 million, a lawyer said on Tuesday.

The workers went to the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute's office to seek legal advice in regard to their complaint.

Surya Tjandra of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute said after receiving the complaint that they were recruited by consulting firm PT Sarey Hanish Consultants to receive training, which was sponsored by the Ministry of Industry and Trade as part of the social safety net program.

"The firm promised the workers that they would be given loans as working capital after completing the training course on handicraft businesses," Surya said.

He said the workers were divided into two groups and each group was to receive Rp 50 million.

One of the workers, Mukri, said he became interested in the training program after reading an advertisement appearing in several newspapers, including Kompas, Pos Kota, and Suara Pembaruan. The advertisement said the training program was intended mainly for jobless people who had been dismissed due to the prolonged economic crisis.

Mukri said the training program, which started in July last year, was held at a training center in East Jakarta. He said each participant was given a monthly allowance of Rp 240,000.

"The firm promised to distribute the loans last month at the latest, but until now we have not received the money. We have been neglected," said Mukri, a former employee of a private firm in Subang, West Java.

Sarey Hanish Consultants' public relations manager, Yulius Usman, however, denied that his firm had cheated the workers.

"We are just the organizers of the training program. We never promised to give any working capital to the workers," Yulius told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, refusing to give further details.

Lawyer Surya said the funds had possibly been embezzled by ministry officials.

Based on information from training program participants, he said, executives of the firm in charge of running the program were also ministry officials.

He said the consulting firm had branch offices in Medan, North Sumatra and Surabaya, East Java, to manage the funds.

He said he believed the firm had also neglected to fulfill promises to 10 other participants of a farming training course. (jun)