TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Tanjung Duren sector police raided a home fish processing factory in West Jakarta two weeks ago. The police came after receiving a complaint about bad smells and a disturbing report that underage workers might be held there against their will.
Tanjung Duren Sector local police chief Comr. Maj. Firman Andreanto and his men couldn’t find the home owner,Tio Tju Meng a.k.a Ameng, 62. Only Ameng's 52-year-old nephew, Susanto, was around to supervise the work.
The officers asked everyone to come outside and assemble in the yard. There were 20 in all. When asked their ages, each of them claimed to be older than 17. But their young, innocent countenances aroused suspicion.
When questioned at the Tanjung Duren police station, six of the 20 workers at Ameng's house said they were under 17 years old. The youngest, Ijah, was just 14. This teenage girl from Parung, Bogor, West Java, had only been working at the house for several weeks. But five of the others had been there for periods of several months to more than a year.
The Tanjung Duren police passed the case on to the West Jakarta District Metropolitan Command. There the case is being handled by the Women and Children's Services Unit.
After 24 hours questioning Ameng and the 20 workers, the police found no indications of illegal detention. "There was no evidence pointing to that," said Adj. Snr. Comr. Hengki Haryadi, chief of the Criminal Detectives Unit at the West Jakarta Command.
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EIGHT years ago, Ameng and his wife, Ros, asked their neighbors' permission to open a home business, telling the deputy neighborhood head, M. Ratno, he planned to make bakso (meatballs). His neighbors in the densely packed area had no problem with the plan.
After a few months, however, neighbors began to complain about the putrid smell that filled the air from morning to night--sometimes until after midnight. Later on, the neighbors discover that the operation included fish meat. Apart from being used for bakso, the fish was ground and steamed for use in nuggets, yakiniku (Japanese-style grilled meat), and kaki naga (drumsticks). Marketed in and around Lampung, Ameng's products were packaged in plastic under the logo of PT Laba Sari.
Representing their fellow neighbors, neighborhood heads repeatedly warned Ameng about the smell. He installed air filters on his roof. There was so much fish, though, that the smell never went away.
Without telling anyone, one neighbor reported him to the nearest police station. But police failed to immediately follow up the matter of the unpleasant odor. They only took action two weeks ago when they received a report of suspected detention of child workers.
After spending the night at the police station two weeks ago, Ameng, Susanto and his 20 workers were allowed to return home to Lontar. But that did not mean the esteemed employer had been cleared of all charges. "An investigation is still ongoing," Hengki said.
The police believe Ameng has violated the Labor Law. The issue is putting underage employees to work for more than three hours a day, the upper limit under the law. Ameng also only paid his workers Rp 450,000-900,000 a month, far less than the DKI Jakarta’s minimum wage of Rp 2.2 million.
Ijah, Ameng’s youngest worker, only got Rp450,000 a month even though she worked 12 hours a day on average. As with the other workers, Ijah was only paid overtime if she worked after 8pm. As compensation, she was only given pocket money of Rp25,000 and overtime of Rp10,000 per week. Oddly enough, Ijah never complained about her low wages. "What's important is for me to get money for our Lebaran festivities," she said.
Susanto alias Alip denied in an interview with Tempo that he forced underage teenagers to work at Ameng's factory. "They were brought here by their parents,"he said. “Rather than them being unemployed, well, we do give them work. If they can't stand it and want to return home, I never kept them here."
The police have yet to formally name Ameng a suspect. They are still seeking proof of identity and residence to confirm the ages of the teenage workers. "If necessary, my team will look for these in their home areas," Hengki said. Some of the workers are from West Java, Banten and Lampung.
How the legal process will end up remains unclear. But Ameng has closed his business. He told his employees to find work elsewehre or return home. "Because I'm still considered to be still just a kid, I have to go home immediately," said Juli, who claims to be 20 years old. Carrying a white cardboard box, the boy from Pandeglang regency, Banten, youth said farewell to several of his friends who were also awaiting their turn to go home.
ARYANI KRISTANTI, DIMAS SIREGAR
