TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Soekarno-Hatta Airport Police chief Sr. Comr. C.H Patoppoi said the arrival hall at the airport's Terminal II was stricken by extortion targeting Indonesian migrant workers (TKI). "This is where panders and illegal brokers usually operate," said Patoppoi on Monday.
The usual targets for these extortion rackets are Indonesian migrant workers who had just recently arrived from abroad. "Many of these workers are naive and unaware of official procedures at the airport," he said. According to Patoppoi, as soon as the workers disembark from aircraft, they would be met by a bevy of scammers—ranging from illegal porters to unauthorised airport taxi operators. "We know that the airport authorities sometimes also engage in these extortion rackets," added Patoppoi.
Armed with a fake or expired airport staff identification cards, the scammers freely extorted the migrant workers. "Their methods range from pretending to help carry the migrant workers' luggages, offering cheap bus tickets or airfares, and some even directly ask for money," explained Patoppoi.
The problem is exacerbated by the lack of information facilities and signposting throughout the terminal, which help explain to the workers about the technicalities relating to their return journey, exchange rates and airfares. "We had airport authorities install information banners for this purpose, but we found out that most were taken down because they thought it made the premises look dingy," said Patoppoi.
He said that extortions rackets and other scams that posed a threat to public safety and the comfort of airport users could be eradicated completely if all related authorities would commit to the "clean-up" of the airport. "It has to be continuous and joint efforts", explained Patoppoi.
The spokesman of Soekarno-Hatta Airport authorities, Mochamad Syukur, said that such problems could be solved if airport staffers and users adhered to the 'No Pass, No Entry' policy. "Those not in possession of an airport pass should not be allowed into the terminal," said Syukur.
JONIANSYAH