Indonesia suspends labor exports to SARS-infected countries<\/p>\n
Ridwan Max Sijabat and Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta\/Batam<\/p>\n
The government has temporarily suspended the supply of Indonesian
\nworkers to the Asia Pacific in response to the Severe Acute
\nRespiratory Syndrome (SARS) crisis in the region.<\/p>\n
Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea told
\nThe Jakarta Post on Friday that the action was part of a series
\nof steps being taken by the government in response to the crisis
\nin China, Hong Kong and Singapore.<\/p>\n
The legal basis of the decision is Law No. 4\/1984 on
\ncommunicable diseases.<\/p>\n
\"We have temporarily banned all labor exporters from supplying
\nworkers to the Asia-Pacific region. A consequence of this
\nunwanted policy is that we will suffer material losses,\" he said,
\nadding that the ban applied to all associations that supply
\nworkers to the region, particularly Singapore, Hong Kong and
\nTaiwan.<\/p>\n
This new policy will add to the economic losses suffered by
\nIndonesia since the government suspended labor exports to the
\nMiddle East because of the U.S.-led war on Iraq. Indonesia
\nsupplies an average of 500,000 workers every month to countries
\nin the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Jacob, who has canceled a visit to Hong Kong and China, said
\nhe did not have any data on the number of workers who would be
\naffected by the new policy. But he did say that Indonesia
\nsupplied about 4,000 workers to Hong Kong every month and between
\n2,500 workers and 3,000 workers to Singapore every month.<\/p>\n
The minister also said the government had ordered its
\ndiplomatic missions in the Asia Pacific to intensify their
\nmonitoring of Indonesians working in the region<\/p>\n
\"Indonesian workers employed in Hong Kong and Singapore have
\nbeen asked to use masks both inside and outside of their places
\nof work,\" Jacob said.<\/p>\n
The minister also said he had asked the heads of all manpower
\nand transmigration offices in the regions to monitor any workers
\nwho had recently returned home from overseas.<\/p>\n
\"We especially delivered a letter about the temporary ban to
\nDjaelani, the chief of the manpower and transmigration office in
\nEast Java, because of the government's recent green light to all
\nlabor exporters in the province to supply semiskilled workers to
\nHong Kong and Singapore,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, authorities in Batam are scheduled to screen about
\n62,000 workers employed in industrial zones on the island, which
\nis near to Singapore.<\/p>\n
Jhon Sulistiawan, the general manager of Batamindo, which
\nsupplies workers to some 70 foreign companies on the island, told
\nthe Post on Friday that preventive measures against SARS were
\nbeing taken with an eye toward the 1,500 expatriates who travel
\nto and from Singapore weekly.<\/p>\n
Singapore, as a regional hub, is thought to be key in the
\nspread of SARS through the Asia Pacific and beyond. The World
\nHealth Organization recently announced that travel to Singapore
\nshould be avoided.<\/p>\n
Jhon said companies on Batam should check workers as they
\narrive at and leave factories, and isolate anyone suspected of
\nbeing infected with the disease.<\/p>\n
Puardi Djarius, head of the Batam health office, said so far
\nthere had been no indications that SARS had spread to the island.<\/p>\n
He said his office had intensified its supervision at the Hang
\nNadim airport and several seaports through which many Singapore
\narrive on the island.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the director general for labor placement at the
\nManpower and Transmigration Ministry, I Gusti Made Arke,
\nconfirmed that Suprihatin, a 22-year-old worker who was being
\nemployed in Hong Kong, has been positively infected by the
\npotentially fatal flu-like virus.<\/p>\n
\"Suprihatin, a resident of Sumber Sewu village, Ponorogo
\nregency, East Java, is gradually recovering after undergoing
\nintensive care at the Queen Elisabeth Hospital in Hong Kong since
\nMarch 15,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Arka added that Suprihatin was employed as a domestic helper
\nfor a Hong Kong family in Mong Kok, Kowloon.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-suspends-labor-exports-to-sars-infected-countries-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}