Labor export firm faces stiff penalty
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)