Pangkalpinang. The Provincial Manpower Office of the Bangka Belitung Islands has confirmed that 1,329 workers have been laid off due to ongoing legal proceedings involving tin mining companies implicated in corruption related to tin trading. This corruption case has resulted in state losses estimated at Rp 300 trillion ($18.5 billion).

"As of May this year, 1,329 workers have been laid off," said Agus Afandi, Head of Industrial Relations and Social Security Supervision at the Bangka Belitung Provincial Manpower Office, speaking from Pangkalpinang on Friday.

Afandi highlighted that 16 companies across districts such as Bangka, Bangka Tengah, Bangka Barat, Bangka Selatan, Belitung, Belitung Timur, and Pangkalpinang have been impacted by the tin trading case in the Bangka Belitung Islands Province, resulting in these layoffs.

Currently, 113 workers have been placed on furlough, while 23 others are still undergoing the layoff process.

"The layoffs in Bangka Belitung are specific to companies involved in the tin trading case handled by the Attorney General's Office (Kejagung), while other companies remain unaffected," Afandi clarified.

He emphasized that these layoffs are directly linked to issues within the tin trading sector and are not attributable to a global economic downturn.

"While some affected workers have received their severance payments in accordance with regulations, others have not," Afandi added.

According to Afandi, delays in compensating some workers stem from the non-operational status of company assets or ongoing legal processes at the Attorney General's Office.

"The detention of company owners by the Attorney General's Office has prevented them from settling severance payments for laid-off workers," he explained.

Meanwhile, the Attorney General's Office is preparing to prosecute 22 suspects, including prominent business figures, in a major corruption scandal involving the state-owned tin miner Timah. Most of the suspects are executives from private mining companies, including Refined Bangka Tin (RBT), one of Indonesia's major tin ingot producers. A former CEO of Timah, identified by the initials MRPT, and three other executives from the state company are also among the suspects.

State auditors estimate losses to the state from the corruption case at Rp 300 trillion arising from alleged illegal tin mining activities within Timah's operations from 2015 to 2022, which also caused severe environmental damage.

One of the notable suspects is businessman Harvey Moeis, who gained attention on social media after reportedly gifting his toddler son a private jet for his birthday. Harvey's lawyer has argued that the jet was chartered, not owned.