WB projects abuse laborers: Study<\/p>\n
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A recent study conducted by the Asian Labor Network on
\nInternational Financial Institution (ALNI) has shown that a
\nnumber of ongoing projects financed by the World Bank in Bali,
\ninfringe on core labor standards.<\/p>\n
The ALNI's research team -- which distributed questionnaires
\nto around 200 employees of the projects -- found that workers
\nwere working seven hours to ten hours a day, seven days a week,
\nwithout the required safety equipment and social security
\ninsurance.<\/p>\n
Timboel Siregar, a team member who presented the research
\nresults here over the weekend, said the study found that seven
\nchild workers and many women workers received less pay than male
\nworkers whose duties were the same.<\/p>\n
They live in camps that are not up to standard, particularly
\nwhen it rains or at night.<\/p>\n
\"Some 90 percent of the workers are not employed on a
\npermanent basis but paid on a daily basis. If compared to the
\ndaily minimum wage in the province, the workers' salaries, which
\nrange from Rp 10,000 to Rp 40,000 a day, are very low,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He added that workers employed in the Bali Urban
\nInfrastructure Project (BUIP) had been deprived of core labor
\nstandards as they had depended upon local brokers, who recruited
\nthem without bargaining for better conditions.<\/p>\n
The projects, worth US$74 million in total, have been underway
\nsince May 1997. They comprise the construction of a bridge and
\ntwo drainages in Ubud, the widening of a road in Bedugul, the
\nrenovation of a monument within a reserve in Gilimanuk and the
\ndevelopment of a camping ground and roadwork in Gianyar. The
\nprojects are managed by PT Dacrea but subcontracted to numerous
\nlocal companies, including PT Adi Murti, PT AKAS and PT Slipi
\nRaya Utama.<\/p>\n
Timboel said the two World Bank project officers in Indonesia
\nhad not closely supervised the labor conditions of projects that
\nit had funded in the country.<\/p>\n
The World Bank, which observed its 60th anniversary on July
\n21, has financed numerous development projects to help alleviate
\npoverty in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Boni Setiawan of the Global Justice Institute (IGJ) said the
\nWorld Bank had principally been aware of core labor standards but
\nhad not directly supervised the development projects.<\/p>\n
\"The World Bank has not been strict about labor standards. The
\ngovernment lacks the political will to respect workers' basic
\nrights and its labor policy is employer-oriented,\" he said,
\nciting that the World Bank had financed thousands of development
\nprojects in the country since the 1970s.<\/p>\n
Rudy Porter, country director of the American Center for
\nInternational Labor Solidarity (ACILS), also regretted the poor
\nlabor conditions that were apparent in the World Bank-funded Bali
\ndevelopment projects, saying that countries behind the World Bank
\nshould pay special attention to the issue.<\/p>\n
\"The World Bank should reflect its (founding) countries'
\nstrong commitment to International Labor Organization conventions
\nand core labor standards on people's right to work, equal payment
\nand the eradication of child labor,\" he said, when asked to
\ncomment on ALNI's research.<\/p>\n
The World Bank's office in Jakarta has accepted the report on
\nlabor abuse in the BUIP, saying this could be a starting point to
\nprevent such incidents in its other development projects.<\/p>\n
\"Having read the ALNI research, we are concerned by these
\nfindings, and we will take the information very seriously... We
\nstrongly believe that the objectives of the ALNI's research are
\npositive, and we would like to learn from its findings. It is
\nfrom initiatives like these that our institution could gain more
\ninsight for future improvements,\" World Bank spokesman Mohamad
\nAl-Arief told The Jakarta Post on Monday.<\/p>\n
Al-Arief explained that the World Bank had actually sent a
\nwarning letter to all firms involved in the projects and urged
\nthe (Indonesian) government to take stern action over the child
\nlabor issue.<\/p>",
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