Small shoe maker plans to sue Total over payment

A small shoemaker in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, CV Leony, planned to sue French oil and gas company Total Indonesie for not paying 195 pairs of shoes worth Rp 45 million, Kaltim Post reported.

"I've sent a letter to Total, but it has yet to give any response. As such, we shall take this case to the court," Leony's director Nefone Esther said on Friday.

She said Leony sent 195 pairs of shoes to Total late last year based on the latter's order. Total rejected some pairs of shoes that did not meet the standards set by the company.

According to Nefone, Leony later replaced the rejected shoes with the new ones that meet the standards set by Total. However, Nefone said Total's accounting official rejected Leony's invoice, asking her to contact Total's security guards.

Nefone said she did not understand the reason behind the rejection of the invoice and she believed that the accounting staff wanted her to give "something" to the security guards.

"There must be corrupt motive behind the request for us to meet the security guards," she said.

Nefone said she had reported the case to Balikpapan township major as the guardian of all small businesses in the township.

On Saturday, Total's management held a meeting with Nefone to discuss the case, but the result of the meeting remains unknown, the paper said.

The paper further said it was invited by Total's public relations staff to cover the meeting but the paper's reporter was denied entry into the meeting by head of Total's provision department Michen, but Michen later apologized for the incident. (*)