Manpower to get tough on permit violators

Manpower to get tough on permit violators

JAKARTA (JP): City Immigration Office will take action against
expatriates found to have misused their work permits, the
office's chief said yesterday .

"We will not hesitate to take stern action against any
expatriate found misusing their work permit," Moh. Affandi
stressed. He acknowledged, however, that his office cannot
monitor the activities of all foreigners living in the city.

Affandi appealed to related agencies, especially the City
Manpower Office, to cooperate with keeping a close watch on
foreign workers.

He explained that the immigration office issued visas for
foreign workers after receiving letters of recommendation from
the manpower office.

Data at the City Manpower Office indicates that there are
11,685 foreign workers in Jakarta who are employed at 8,795
companies. Most of them are from Japan and South Korea and work
in the manufacturing and service sectors.

Head of the City Manpower Office, Freddy Tuamelly, last week
announced 126 companies in Jakarta had violated Manpower Law no.3
issued in 1992. The companies disregarded work ethics, ignored
workers' social insurance and hired foreigners with invalid work
permits.

Under the rule, foreign workers in Indonesia are required to
renew their work permits at latest one month before the permits
expire. The immigration office says it doesn't cost anything to
renew the work permits.

Freddy said he had discovered that many foreign workers didn't
renew their work permits on time. "Some of them moved to other
companies without informing either the immigration office or the
manpower office. They should realize that by doing so they have
breached the law."

He also said that his office could not effectively keep a
check on foreign workers due to a lack of personnel. "We only
have 92 personnel."

In the absence of tight supervision, some companies don't ask
expatriates to get new work permits, employ foreign workers in
the wrong positions, and accept foreign workers from other
companies without proper permits.(29)