Latief also branded accusations that his ministry illegally collected levies from Indonesian workers to be sent abroad as cruel slander.
"I'll be damned. I'm a tycoon, why should I collect levies from workers. It's not true. It's a slander. It's very cruel to accuse me of taking poor people's money," Latief told journalists after meeting with President Soeharto at his residence on 31. Cendana, Central Jakarta.
The chairman of the Association of Labor Export Companies (Apjati), Abdullah Puteh, complained last week that the Ministry of Manpower required all labor exporters to pay up to US$80 to cover an insurance premium for each worker to be sent abroad.
The payment must be channeled to the Foundation for Indonesian Human Resources Development (YPSDMI), run by the ministry's retired officials.
Puteh claimed that the foundation, without a transparent management structure, had collected $10 million in the last nine months
Latief maintained that accusations of such abuse were unfounded, but did note that there was an official insurance premium which had to be paid.
"It's baseless. We charge only $80 for each worker to be sent to Saudi Arabia," he argued adding that those planning to work in other Middle Eastern countries, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore would be charged just $45.
"I'm like boxer Joe Frazier who has just been clobbered in the ring, " Latief said reflecting on the current scrutiny he has been under.
"What's important is that I go ahead with my work until their hands are too tired to beat me," he remarked.
The stylish minister, who founded retail company ALatieF Corp. which owns Pasaraya department store, has been bombarded by criticism for several weeks for alleged misuse of funds.
It was discovered that he had appropriated billions of rupiah from the state-owned social security company PT Jamsostek to pay for expenses incurred by legislators deliberating the controversial manpower bill.
Latief maintained that the funds were used for the administrative purposes of the deliberating session, such as computer services, which was held in a posh hotel.
When the public outcry over the scandal emerged last month Latief claimed that President Soeharto himself told him to use the funds from Jamsostek.
Insurance
When asked why workers going abroad were required to be covered by an additional insurance premium while they are already covered by Jamsostek, Latief said the new insurance scheme provided better coverage and security for the worker's family.
"Jamsostek pays only Rp 2 million in the case of a worker's death and a maximum 60month salary if the worker is paralyzed in a work-related accident," Latief explained.
He said that the new additional insurance scheme would provide another $1,800 in the event of death and pay the full salary remaining in the worker's contract.
Latief said President Soeharto summoned him to his residence yesterday after reading a statement from the chairman of Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Aburizal Bakrie that one million people had lost their jobs this year as a consequence of the economic crisis.
In his meeting Latief apparently gave a more sedate interpretation.
"I told the President that the number is not that high,' he said, adding that official figures suggest only 16,961 workers in the formal sector, not including construction, had been laid off.
But Latief's own assistant Payaman J. Simajuntak, revealed last month that the number of unemployed would reach eight million by the end of the year. This includes an additional one million newly laid-off workers.
"If the situation persists the number of unemployed may reach nine million in 1998," Simajuntak told reporters last month.
The President yesterday also reminded the country's 160,000 private companies to fulfill their obligations of paying Idul Fitri bonuses.
"Companies are obliged to pay the bonus. If the financial hardship becomes more severe the (high-ranking) executives should be the ones making a sacrifice for their workers," Latief said.
The minister also acknowledged it would be difficult for the government to raise the minimum wage next year.
"We must be realistic, because we cannot force ailing companies to raise their worker's wages," said Latief. (prb)
