T

he Investment Coordinating Board (BPKM) is expected to revoke the business license of fishing firm PT Pusaka Benjina Resources (PBR), which is implicated in a case of alleged forced labor in Benjina, Maluku.

BKPM chairman Franky Sibarani said his agency was working on a final decision to revoke the license of PBR '€” a joint venture of Thai and Indonesian companies '€” in tandem with the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry'€™s own efforts to strip the company of its rights.

'€œAs we have previously said, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has the authority to revoke a company'€™s operation license. Our duty is to revoke the principle business license of any problematic companies, so the BKPM is currently in the process of revoking PBR'€™s principle investment license,'€ Franky said in a statement on Friday.

With the simultaneous handling of the case by the maritime officials, Franky said he expected a '€œswift'€ process against the firm.

The Benjina case was exposed early last month by foreign media reports of alleged forced labor practices on the remote island of Benjina, with PBR, the only official fishing operation on the island, suspected of having tricked hundreds of workers into forced labor.

Based on the results of investigations by government authorities, at least 1,456 crew members, comprising 1,205 foreigners and 251 Indonesians, were forced to work for an '€œunreasonable amount of hours'€. Most of the workers hailed from Thailand, with several confessing Myanmar and Cambodian nationality after initial reports discovered that most were registered under Thai documents.

Investigators also discovered evidence of other crimes, such as bribery and corruption, forgery of licenses and documentation, human trafficking and violation of workers'€™ rights.

In a sinister twist to the tale, a key witness in the investigation, Yoseph Sairlela, the coordinator for supervision at the Dobo Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Agency, was found dead in a hotel in Central Jakarta days before he was due to testify
in court.

PBR confessed to setting aside Rp 37 million (US$2,860) per month for '€œbaksheesh'€, or bribe money, in order to keep local authorities and ministry officials off its back, Antara news agency reported.

Meanwhile, BKPM deputy chairman Azhar Lubis said that the investment board had previously revoked or annulled more than 6,000 principle licenses for violating regulations.

Azhar said that, in accordance with Article 27 paragraph 2 of BKPM Chairman Regulation No. 3/2012 on punitive and sanctioning guidelines, the BKPM may directly mete out punishments to corporations in cases of severe environmental pollution or endangering of society.

In a related development, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has officially extended a moratorium on fishing licenses for foreign-built vessels, previously stipulated in Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Regulation No. 56/2014 on the fishing license ban.

The new regulation, Minister Regulation No. 10/2015, extends the moratorium a further six months to Oct. 31 this year.

According to the ministry'€™s director general for capture fisheries, Gellwyn Yusuf, the new regulation is aimed at allowing more time for the anti-illegal fishing task force to completely update the ministry'€™s database on foreign-built vessels operating in the country.

Gellwyn said, however, that ships that had successfully passed the task force'€™s analysis and evaluation (Annev) protocol would be allowed to recommence operations in the near future.