Seamen protest union executives

JAKARTA: About 20 seamen demonstrated at the Ministry of Manpower on Monday, demanding their association's executives stand down.

The seamen urged Minister of Manpower Fahmi Idris to help them handle numerous problems in their organization.

Henky Ticonuwu, representing the protesters, said the association's current executives should be replaced because their appointment did not comply with the conditions required by their organization's statutes.

"What's more, the executives have not been transparent in using funds collected from all members," he said. More than 600,000 seamen are members of the Association of Indonesian Seamen.

The seamen also questioned the recent spending of Rp 5 billion (US$450,000) to purchase of a plot of land in Bekasi, West Java.

"We have never been informed about the land purchase," he said.

Director General of Industrial Relations and Labor Standards Mohammad Syaufii, who received the protesters, asked them to solve all their problems using the organization's internal mechanisms.

"We cannot intervene in the association's internal matters," he said. However, "those opposing the current executives can set up their own union and can trace where their money went." (rms)