Din Syamsuddin calls for dissolution of Apjati<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Director General of Manpower Placement and
\nDevelopment Din Syamsuddin called on labor export companies on
\nMonday to set up a consortia in place of the longstanding
\nAssociation of Labor Export Companies (Apjati).<\/p>\n
The plea came on the heels of serious feuding between the
\nMinistry of Manpower and Apjati over labor exporters' minimum
\ncapital.<\/p>\n
\"Labor export companies are allowed to make direct contact
\nwith the ministry for tackling their problems, but freedom of
\nassociation allows them also to set up their own consortia to
\nchannel their interests,\" Din said after a ceremony which marked
\nthe issuance of new licenses for 146 labor export companies here.<\/p>\n
So far, a total of 370 labor export companies have renewed
\ntheir licenses under the new decree which requires a company to
\nsecure Rp 1 billion in minimum capital by June 1. Firms which
\nfail to meet the ruling will be barred from operation.<\/p>\n
Apjati has protested the decree and asked Minister of Manpower
\nBomer Pasaribu and Din to step down because of unprofessionalism.<\/p>\n
Din said the consortia should be based on the employment
\nsectors and destination countries so that they could help labor
\nexporters cope with any problems they might be facing.<\/p>\n
\"We should no longer waste our time over so many useless
\nthings as we do now,\" he said referring to the mounting feud
\nbetween the ministry and Apjati over the controversial
\nministerial decree on labor exporters' minimum capital.<\/p>\n
Apjati chairman Abdullah Umar deplored Din's statement, saying
\nthat the government should no longer intervene in the
\nassociation's internal affairs because it could cause a division
\namong labor exporters.<\/p>\n
\"It is the right of every company of whether they want to
\nunionize in a consortia, join Apjati or stay away from
\norganizations,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Umar suspected that Din made the statement in his bid to keep
\nthe ministry's dominant role in labor export affairs.<\/p>\n
\"The government should limit its authority in the policy-
\nmaking process and provide a better public service to labor
\nexporters and workers to help solve the unemployment problem,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Zeid Arifin, chairman of the consortium of firms exporting
\nlaborers to Singapore, said Apjati's role as an umbrella for the
\nexisting consortia remained intact.<\/p>\n
\"It depends on whether labor exporters think Apjati is still
\nrelevant or not, and it will be discussed further in Apjati's
\nextraordinary congress later this month,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Immigration<\/p>\n
Din criticized the immigration office for lacking in its
\ncommitment to provide better service for workers applying for
\npassports to work overseas.<\/p>\n
\"Frankly speaking, I'm suspicious as to why the immigration
\noffice declines to provide a one-stop service for workers, while
\nwe frequently receive reports of illegal levies which are imposed
\non workers who want to work overseas,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Citing an example, Din described the high cost of obtaining
\npassports in Malang, East Java, and the number of workers who go
\noverseas without the required documents.<\/p>\n
\"In Malang, people who want to work overseas are obliged to
\npay Rp 400,000 for a passport. This fee is 400 percent more
\nexpensive than the standard price,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that on Sunday, 40 Indonesian workers who were on
\ntheir way to Kuwait were stranded at Changi airport in Singapore
\nfor not having the proper documents.<\/p>\n
\"The immigration office is the last stop at airports for
\nchecking whether citizens heading abroad have completed the
\nnecessary documents,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that the Ministry of Manpower had also
\ncommitted many errors, but was correcting its mistakes. (rms)<\/p>",
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