Manpower agency passive as jobseekers are abused

Manpower agency passive as jobseekers are abused

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Sofiah, 35, from Tanjung Sari village in Kentung Gemar district
of Sukabumi, West Java, had a big dream: to earn a large salary
working as a housemaid in the Middle East.

The mother of two children got the full support of her farmer
husband, Eman, who later sold their land so that they could pay
Rp 3.5 million to her "sponsor", who promised her a job in Kuwait
earning between Rp 3 million and Rp 4 million a month.

In April, she was sent to a job training center belonging to
PT Adi Santa Kencana Mas, a recruitment agency on Jl. Iskandar
Muda in Neglasari district, Tangerang. She was told that she
would need training before she was sent abroad.

However, nine months later, she has not received any training
and she is still there.

Eman, 45, went to the center last weekend to bring his wife
back home because her mother was seriously ill.

"The job training center told me to pay Rp 2 million as
compensation, but I have no more money. I sold my land to send my
wife to this training center," he told The Jakarta Post.

He added that he had been to the center four times since
October to take his wife home but was unsuccessful each time.

Sofiah, along with some 300 people, mostly women, are locked
in the building. Meals are provided twice a day, but there is no
breakfast.

Worse, the women claim that the company's security guards
sexually harass them.

"They frequently touch or fondle parts of my body. I hate
this," Rohana, 22, said.

Rohana, who has been held at the training center since July,
said she was interested in working overseas because she could not
find a job after graduating from senior high school four years
ago.

She had paid out Rp 3 million and was promised a job in the
Middle East with a monthly salary of between Rp 3 million and Rp
5 million.

Earlier this month, about 100 residents of Kresek district in
Tangerang attacked the job training center and released about 50
women.

The police named four villagers as suspects in the attack, but
no legal action has been taken against the training center's
management.

On Friday, several legislators of the House of
Representatives' Commission II for home and legal affairs visited
the training center.

Didik Suprianto of the Indonesian Democratic Party for
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction, said the center had to be
closed down since it had violated the jobseekers' rights.

He also said his commission had received data from the
Tangerang council, which said that Kuwait would return 11 migrant
workers sent by PT Adi Santa Kencana Mas, due to a lack of
skills.

The chief of the Tangerang Manpower Agency Adang Turwana said
that his office had done nothing to help the jobseekers.

"We have no idea what to do for some 300 would-be migrant
workers at the training center and therefore we need to
coordinate with the ministry office," he told the Post on Monday.

In November, he said, the Ministry of Manpower and
Transmigration revoked the permit issued to PT Adi Santa as a
supplier of migrant workers.

"I know the permit was revoked by the ministry but we have not
received a copy of the revocation yet," he said.

He added that the company owner, Jimmy Chadra, had filed a
lawsuit against the ministry at the Jakarta State Administrative
Court.