"I wish no company would be squeezed any more and no more illegal levies happen. If it has gone too much just let me know so we can tackle it together," Yudhoyono said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President usilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called for cooperation among regional heads of government to erase illegal levies locally known as "Pungli" on private companies.

Illegal fees could make companies to lose their ability to pay the wage of their workers, he said here on Monday.

"I wish no company would be squeezed any more and no more illegal levies happen. If it has gone too much just let me know so we can tackle it together," he said.

According to him illegal levies will burden companies in paying the wage of their workers.

"It`s not fair if the wage is too high to make companies have difficulties paying the wage," he said.

The president said that wage increase must be made within the ability of the companies.

"Otherwise, the companies may go bankrupt and when termination of employment happens it would be the workers that will suffer because they will not have a source of income," he said.

Meanwhile, president also considered it unjust if workers in a good company receive a too low wage.

The Indonesian Employers Associations (Apindo) Chairman Sofjan Wanandi said that many employers had complained about illegal levies..

"Our regional autonomy system has been going too far, we have to pay unclear charges due to autonomy," he said.

On the other hand, the policy of raising provincial minimum wage (UMP) in Jakarta has caused problems for the entrepreneurs.

He further requested that the remuneration could be determined by companies not by the government.

"Wages should not be determined by the heads of district or city administration," he said. (*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2013