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Flag raising officers to get remaining payment after protest
Hundreds of flag-raising officers who were in charge of raising flags after matches during the recent SEA Games in Palembang were promised their unpaid salaries after Monday’s protest
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undreds of flag-raising officers who were in charge of raising flags after matches during the recent SEA Games in Palembang were promised their unpaid salaries after Monday’s protest.
“We’ve been informed that the provincial secretary will pay the remaining salaries on Thursday,” said flag raiser Herman Hambali in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Wednesday night as quoted by Antara news agency.
“It has been agreed that each officer will get Rp 3 million [US$330.76]. So all of the previous misunderstandings [about payment] have been cleared,” Herman said, adding that the final decision on the payment was made after several flag raising representatives met South Sumatra secretary Yusri Effendi.
Flag raising officer deputy coordinator Edwin Gunawan said that the Rp 3 million payment was the sum of his official and volunteer fee.
“Actually, each flag raising officer will get Rp 1,248,000 for 12 working days. Besides that, we will also get a volunteer fee. So each officer will pocket Rp 3 million,” Edwin added.
On Monday, hundreds of flag raisers protested in front of the Palembang branch office of the Indonesian Sports Council (KONI), demanding clarification on the remaining payment.
“We were exhausted by the job, but we didn’t get any respect at all. We started the rehearsals in July without any transportation and consumption fees whatsoever,” Hambali said.
After the Games, each officer received only Rp 129,000 in reimbursement for transportation expenses during a three-day rehearsal and Rp 500,000 for the 11-day activities during the Games.
“We were so disappointed that we took part in the rehearsals for months, even during the fasting month, and only got paid for three days. We have been asking [the organizers] many times with no clarification,” Hambali said.
Hambali said there are 432 officers and 50 organizers who had not received their full payment.
“If the local government fails to keep their promise, we will stage another protest in the DPRD [South Sumatra Legislative Council], or even better we’ll go to the KPK [Corruption Eradication Commission],” Hambali said.
