20 July 2007
JAKARTA: A private company previously appointed to train and export workers to South Korea has accused the National Labor Export and Protection Agency (BNP2TKI) of nepotism.
The comments came after the agency's chief, Jumhur Hidayat, canceled the company's operational license and reportedly awarded it to his younger brother.
"Frankly speaking, our license was frozen for our refusal to make adjustments to the new cost structure set up by the government, which is far higher than the one set in the license," Korean Language Education and Training Center director June Ernawati told The Jakarta Post by phone Wednesday.
"We were shocked upon receiving a letter from BNP2TKI's director for labor placement and service affairs (Kustomo Usman) asking us to halt our activities for unspecified reasons."
June said her company was also forced by a BNP2TKI official to cooperate with a travel agency owned by Jumhur's brother, Agung, to provide plane tickets to Korea for prospective workers.
"Not only that, Kustomo also sent us a letter early this month asking Jelajah to take over the procurement of plane tickets from our company," she said, adding that her company has filed a protest over the decision with the manpower minister in addition to a lawsuit against BNP2TKI for failing to respond to the protest.
Jumhur has denied all accusations, stating that he did not instruct Kustomo to revoke the training center's license or give it to his younger brother.
"I know nothing about it and am still checking on it through my staff. The accusation of nepotism is only a rumor," Jumhur said. -- JP
