Manpower ministry under spotlight for alleged scam

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Manpower may be the next target in the government's drive for clean government, following allegations of a multimillion-dollar scam in the lucrative business of sending Indonesian workers overseas.

The Attorney General's office, acting on complaints from the Association of Indonesian Manpower Supplier Companies (IMSA), announced it is now looking into the allegations to see whether there is really a case against the Ministry of Manpower.

"Our office is closely monitoring the case and we are gathering material for a possible investigation," spokesman Soeparman said.

IMSA officials have charged that the Ministry of Manpower has earned some Rp 7.68 billion ($3.7 million) by collecting various fees, which have no legal basis, from workers sent overseas.

IMSA Deputy Chairman Idrus said there are no accounts of how this money, which was paid by IMSA members, has been spent.

Idrus said on Tuesday that IMSA is particularly concerned with a $30 levy each worker must pay before being allowed to board the plane.

IMSA members have receipts for these payments to support any official investigation, he said.

Workers are also asked to pay $20 each, supposedly for their social security program, although they are already covered under the Jamsostek program run by PT Astek, the state insurance firm, and paid for by the supplier firms, he said.

The validity of this additional social security fee is questionable given that workers who encounter problem overseas turn to the supplier companies for help, he added.

The Ministry of Manpower has denied the accusations but its chief spokesman, Fachri Taharuddin, said it will cooperate fully with any investigation by the Attorney General's office.

IMSA's allegations came as the government was clamping down on manpower supplier firms, blamed in the past for leaving Indonesian workers stranded abroad, by tightening the regulations.

Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief has issued a series of decrees in the past months, which he said are intended to restore order and improve the professionalism of the manpower supplier firms.

One new regulation which IMSA members have found particularly harsh has been the minimum paid-up capital of Rp 375 million required for each manpower supplier firm and the requirement that they deposit Rp 75 million at a state bank as a security bond.

Manpower supplier firms are also required to set up their own facilities to train the workers in various vocational skills and languages before they are sent abroad.

Latief has also established PT Bijak, a company under his ministry, which will oversee, supervise and coordinate all the activities of manpower supplier companies.

IMSA Executive Director Muchlis Wiradikarta appealed to the government on Tuesday to apply the new rules flexibly and give IMSA members time to adjust.

"If the rules are strictly enforced, 90 percent of IMSA's 176 members will simply cease to operate," Muchlis said.

"Surely it is not the intention of the government to kill small-scale enterprises like us," he said. (rms)