KPK Detains 4 Staff Of The Ministry Of Manpower Executing Foreign Workers Who Manage Work Permits

Acting Deputy For Enforcement And Execution Of The KPK Asep Guntur Rahayu/PHOTO: Wardhany Tsa Tsia-VOI

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) detained four staff from the Directorate of Foreign Labor Use Control (PPTKA) at the Directorate General of Manpower Placement and Employment Expansion (Binapenta & PKK). They are suspected of being the executors of extortion related to the processing of a TKA permit.

"KPK then detained four suspects for the first 20 days," said Acting Deputy for Enforcement and Execution of the KPK Asep Guntur Rahayu to reporters at the KPK's Merah Putih building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, Thursday, July 24.

Those detained were Gatot Widiartono as Coordinator for Analysis and Control of Foreign Workers, Directorate of Control of the Use of Foreign Workers at the Ministry of Manpower; and Putri Citra Wahyoe, Jamal Shodiqin, and Alfa Eshad who are staff at the Directorate General of Binapenta and PPK.

"The detention was carried out at the Red and White building detention center of the KPK," said Asep.

In the previous press conference, the Daily Executive (Plh) of the Director of Investigation of the KPK, Budi Sokmo, explained that there were two documents issued in the RPTKA application process.

The details are 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 Job 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.