Jobless trainees to sue govt over missing funds

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)