The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Calls The Application For A Foreign Workers Permit Will Be Ignored If They Don't Deposit Money To The Ministry Of Manpower

Acting Director Of KPK Investigation Budi Sokmo/PHOTO: Wardhany Tsa Tsia-VOI

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) revealed that the management of the Foreign Labor Use Plan (RPTKA) file will not be processed by the Ministry of Manpower (Kemnaker) if the agent does not deposit money.

This was conveyed by the Daily Executive (Plh) of the Director of Investigation of the KPK Budi Sukmo when announcing eight suspects in the case of extortion in the processing of foreign labor permits (TKA) and gratuities at the Ministry of Manpower. He explained that there were two documents issued in the process of submitting the RPTKA, namely the results of the Feasibility Assessment (HPK) and Ratification of the RPTKA which were verified in stages by the Directorate General of Manpower Placement and Expansion of Work Opportunities (Binapenta and PKK) of the Ministry of Manpower.

"That in the process of issuing the ratification of the RPTKA, the parties at the Ministry of Manpower through employees at the Directorate of Control of the Use of Foreign Workers or PPTKA are suspected of extorting the applicant," Budi said at a press conference at the KPK's Merah Putih building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, Thursday, June 5.

Budi explained that the order to extort the applicant was conveyed by Suhartono and Haryanto as former Director General of Binapenta and PKK of the Ministry of Manpower as well as two former Directors of PPTKA of the Ministry of Manpower Wisnu Pramono and Devi Angraeni. This request was later executed by Putri Citra Wahyoe, Jamal Shodiqin, and Alfa Eshad as verifiers.

The modus operandi is that the verifier only conveys the lack of files to the applicant, most of whom are from the TKA agent via the WhatsApp short message application.

"Meanwhile, applicants who do not provide money are not notified of their lack of files, are not processed or are held for completion time," he said.

If the applicant is not processed, usually they will visit the Ministry of Manpower office and meet with officers. "At the meeting, PCW, ALF and JMS offered to help speed up the RPTKA ratification process by asking for some money," said Budi.

"After an agreement was obtained, the Ministry of Manpower handed over certain account numbers to accommodate money from the applicant," he continued.

In addition, Putri, Jamal, and Alfa will not inform the interview schedule via Skype for applicants who do not give money. In fact, said Budi, this stage is important for submitting RPTKA.

Budi said that most TKA agents or applicants finally gave money so that the RPTKA issuance process would be completed immediately. This is because the document is needed to apply for a work permit or residence permit.

"If the RPTKA is not issued, then the issuance of work permits and residence permits for foreign workers will be hampered. This causes the expenditure of fines to foreign workers as long as the RPTKA has not been issued, which is Rp. 1 million per day," he said.

Budi emphasized that the flow of money in this case will be investigated further.

"Investigators found that the act of extortion against RPTKA applicants at the Ministry of Manpower had been carried out before 2019 and this was still being investigated."