Labor suppliers at odds with govt

JAKARTA: The Association of Indonesian Labor Suppliers (Apjati) has lodged a strong protest with the manpower minister over what it sees as "intervention" in its internal affairs.

At the center of the dispute is a letter issued by the director general for labor placement overseas Soeramsihono, in which the ministry asserted it was not responsible for Apjati's policy charging each worker sent to Saudi Arabia US$11.

Apjati chairman Husein Alaydrus said that the money was used to help workers who suffered difficulties in Saudi Arabia as many had experienced.

"We demand that the letter be revoked immediately," he said.

Soeramsihono said in his letter that the government disagreed with Apjati's policy of mandatory payment of the fee before job seekers could get their legal documents.

Apjati has earlier explained that the fee had been approved by the Indonesian embassy in Riyadh and will be effective for four years.

But in reality, only 30 percent of Indonesian job seekers in Saudi Arabia seek legalization of their documents with the embassy or the consulate in Jeddah, prompting the ministry to drop the fee policy. -- Antara