Labor export firm faces stiff penalty
JAKARTA (JP): Labor export company PT Indra Caraka could lose its operational license for inhumane treatment of 350 job seekers who applied for overseas placements, an official said on Thursday.
Kirnadi, director of labor placement of the Ministry of Manpower, said the government planned to mete out strict sanctions which could range from prohibiting the firm from sending workers for six months or revocation of its operational license.
"I will discuss details of the sanctions with the minister (of manpower)," he said.
The company, he said, was proven guilty of housing the workers for between three and eight months in the company's dormitory in Duri Kosambi, Tangerang, until they were freed by the Pijar non- governmental organization on Tuesday.
According to government regulations, a labor export company is allowed to pool job seekers for a maximum of three months before they are sent to positions.
Kirnadi said the workers were housed in a small dormitory and not been given enough food.
"The company's staff reportedly extorted money from a number of workers as well," he added.
The workers are currently accommodated at the Ministry of Manpower. About 210 of them will be sent back to their home villages in Central and East Java, and the remainder are awaiting their departure to jobs in Malaysia and Singapore.
Darmawi Onggo, one of the company's directors, admitted to his faults, but said some of the job seekers were also to blame because they had refused to return home when asked.
"We could not force them to go home because they have been entrusted by their parents to the company."
He also said his firm would take care of returning most of the job seekers to their villages and reimburse them for any expenses they incurred during their stay.
In another incident involving the export of workers, a consortium of PT Asuransi Jiwa Bringan Jiwa Sejahtera, PT Asuransi Republik and PT Asuransi Bringin Sejahtera Artamakmur paid Rp 3 million (US$272) on Thursday in compensation to Chadirin, the widower of Esti Sugiarti binti Arto Sawito, who died a week before she was scheduled to be sent to work in Saudi Arabia.
Anggoro, one of the consortium's coordinators, said the payment was proof his consortium complied with the 1998 ministerial decree stipulating that all workers to be sent overseas are insured starting from their departure from their home villages until their return.
He said the kin of Esti was entitled to the insurance payment even though she had yet to pay Rp 160,000 as the premium for two years and nine months.
Zainuddin, an employee of labor export company PT Rachman Pratama Sejati, said Esti died of a heart attack on Sept. 18, while visiting her sister in Indramayu, West Java.
Although appearing sad, Chadirin said he appreciated the insurance firms' willingness to pay his wife's policy even though she had yet to be sent abroad.
He said he was unsure on how he should support his five small children in Purwokerto, Central Java. (rms)