Page 14 - e-KLIPING KETENAGAKERJAAN 14 JULI 2020

It further clarifies that the appointment of online training platforms as program partners and
third-party training institutions is not a “procurement of goods and services”, but “still takes into
account the purpose, principles and ethics of the state procurement of goods and services”.

The new regulation is not retroactive, and stipulates that all decisions taken by the program
management under the previous Perpres are “legitimate, as long as they were taken with good
intentions”. The program’s Job Creation Committee is then required to evaluate the decisions.

The provision is applicable to the appointment of partnering platforms and third-party training
institutions, among other things.

Perpres No. 76 also restructures and expands the Job Creation Committee that oversees the
program, which originally consisted of six members led by the coordinating economic minister
and the presidential chief of staff.

The new committee has 12 members comprising the state secretary and six ministers: the home,
finance, education, manpower, industry and national development planning ministers. The five
remaining committee members are the Cabinet secretary, the attorney general, the National
Police chief, as well as the heads of the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) and the
National Procurement Agency (LKPP).

The preemployment card program had drawn widespread public criticism over the apparent lack
of transparency since it was launched on March 20, with an aim to provide a safety net to
workers affected by the health crisis. The two key criticisms were that the appointment of online
partners through a nontransparent process left it open to conflicts of interest, and that it did not
comply with the prevailing regulation on the procurement of goods and services.

“We welcome suggestions from all parties, including [top] institutions like the KPK, and we have
received many inputs from the public, including the [people] who are eligible for the
preemployment card,” program director Denni Purbasari said on June 22.

Earlier in June, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) uncovered irregularities in the
program, including a potential for conflicts of interest and a risk of mistargeting.

The KPK found potential conflicts of interest in at least 250 courses provided by third-party
institutions that had ties to partnering platforms. For instance, partnering platform Pintaria
offered 199 courses, one-third of which was provided by its parent education technology
company HarukaEdu.

By the end of June, the program was offering 3,805 courses through eight partnering platforms,
including e-commerce giants Tokopedia and Bukalapak.

“It should not be like this because it weakens the [course] curation,” KPK corruption prevention
deputy Pahala Nainggolan said on June 19.

Denni said at the time that the program management had issued a public call for expressions
of interest. Nineteen firms had responded the call, said the preemployment card program’s
director.

The preemployment card was one of Jokowi’s reelection campaign promises and originally
designed as an upskilling and reskilling program. As the global health crisis started impacting
the economy and led to job losses when companies downsized in response, the government
redesigned it into an incentivized training program as part of its COVID-19 safety net strategy.

13