Jobseekers cheating upsets Siswono

Jobseekers cheating upsets Siswono

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Transmigration and Resettlement of
Forest Squatters Siswono Yudohusodo said Tuesday he would punish
any of the ministry staff who had cheated 288 job seekers.

Siswono promised to investigate the problem, and threatened to
take action against any official involved.

He said people should not contact brokers to get jobs. "They
should have been extra careful before accepting job offers."

Last Friday, 288 job seekers from Sumatra and Java arrived at
the ministry carrying written job offers.

The ministry's secretary-general, Ignatius Hardoyo, told them
the ministry had not sent any letters of appointment to 1997/1998
job openings.

He showed them the signature of the ministry's personnel
bureau chief, Junaidi, which was different to the signature on
their letters.

Some of the job seekers said they had paid between Rp 4
million (US$1,649) and Rp 10 million to the brokers who promised
them the jobs. They had high school or university qualifications.

"I've spent more than Rp 10 million. This is really heart
breaking," Purwito, a university graduate from Lampung, was
quoted by Antara as saying. (ste)