Labor exporters complain about levies

JAKARTA (JP): An association of labor exporting companies yesterday again lamented the rampant levies imposed on them by bureaucratic officials, and a host of other problems making it difficult for them to do business.

Abdullah Puteh, chairman of the Indonesian Association of Labor Exporters (Apjati), said he was pessimistic that the levies would ever be eradicated because they are the norm in business.

"Nothing would be done unless we paid levies," he said in a hearing with the House of Representatives Commission VI overseeing manpower.

He said the illicit manner of some levy taking made it difficult for business people to distinguish official levies from illegal ones.

Other problems facing labor exporting companies are officers' indifference, red tape, limited flights to destination countries, and the poor legal protection for Indonesian workers abroad which casts a bad light on the exporting companies.

He called on the House to help the companies reach the government-set target of sending 1.25 million workers abroad by the end of 1998.

The association has so far sent 600,000 workers to countries such as Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.

Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief earlier this year launched a war against illegal levies, to ease the burden on companies under strong pressure from foreign competition. He had warned his subordinates that he would severely punish those caught imposing levies on members of the public.

The ministry has already removed a number of officials who in the past were suspected of charging unofficial levies. But the practice remains rampant to this day.

Latief singled out the Directorate General for Industrial Relations and Labor Standards and the Directorate General for Workers Placement as the most notorious for imposing levies.

He placed the burden of improving the image of the ministry on its provincial offices. "The provincial Manpower Ministry chiefs should feel ashamed if their subordinates are caught collecting illegal levies," he said.

As the minister most responsible for overseeing the welfare of Indonesian workers, Latief has found that each time he tries to raise official minimum wages, business leaders balk by demanding the government eliminate the various levies which are a big burden on their cost of operations. (03)