Workers urge govt protection from SARS<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari and Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A group of activists representing migrant workers held a rally at
\nthe House of Representatives (DPR) on Friday to urge the
\ngovernment to pay more attention, and provide protection, to
\nIndonesian migrant workers, especially those working in countries
\naffected by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).<\/p>\n
They said the government had failed to give adequate
\nprotection to migrant workers, although it benefited from the
\nlabor export.<\/p>\n
The protest took place on the heels of the SARS-related deaths
\nof three Indonesian caregivers in Taiwan recently.<\/p>\n
The activists said the lack of detailed information on the
\ndeaths of the Indonesian workers was additional proof of the
\ngovernment's neglect of migrant workers.<\/p>\n
\"We especially regret that the Ministry of Manpower and
\nTransmigration does not have any information about the three
\ndeaths,\" Consortium for Indonesian Migrant Workers (KOPBUMI)
\nsecretary Wahyu Susilo said at a meeting with Deputy House
\nspeaker Muhaimin Iskandar and legislator Yetje Lanasi.<\/p>\n
It was ironic, Wahyu said, that he obtained information on the
\nthree deaths directly from the workers placement agency in
\nTaiwan, not from the ministry.<\/p>\n
Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea said in
\nMataram on Wednesday that only one Indonesian migrant worker had
\ndied of SARS in Taiwan. The next day, the Ministry of Foreign
\nAffairs released the identities of the three migrant workers, but
\nhad no details as to their place of origin.<\/p>\n
KOPBUMI identified the three workers as Sri Redjeki, 35, who
\nbegan working in Taiwan in June 2002, Mubadiyah, 28, who entered
\nTaiwan in November 2001, and Rosita, 26, who arrived in Taiwan in
\nJuly 2002. They were sent to Taiwan by the labor export firms PT
\nPutra Jabung Perkasa, PT Bin Hasan Maju Sejahtera and PT
\nYonasindo Intra Pratama, respectively.<\/p>\n
Their remains had been cremated between March 30 and May 2.<\/p>\n
\"The information came so late. Even when they died and their
\nbodies were cremated, their families were not informed, nor were
\nthey asked for permission,\" Wahyu said.<\/p>\n
It remains unknown whether the migrant workers were Muslims,
\nand Islam does not approve of cremation.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, one new patient suspected of SARS has been put in
\nan isolation room at the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases
\nHospital in Sunter, North Jakarta. The 29-year-old Indonesian
\nwoman caught the virus in Guangdong, China, where she worked, and
\nwhere the disease is thought to have originated.<\/p>\n
Secretary to the Director General of Communicable Diseases
\nEradication and Environmental Health (P2M) Syafii Anwar, after a
\ndaily meeting on SARS at the Ministry of Health in South Jakarta,
\nsaid the woman was admitted on Thursday with a high fever and
\ncough, which are among the early symptoms of SARS.<\/p>\n
She was later declared a suspected SARS patient as her
\ncondition grew worse.<\/p>\n
\"She went to Hong Kong from China and stayed there from Feb. 1
\nto Feb. 6, before she returned to China,\" said Syafii.<\/p>\n
Separately, another patient was placed under observation at
\nthe Adam Malik Hospital in Medan, North Sumatra, on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The 74-year-old Indonesian citizen had just returned from
\nSingapore, a SARS-affected country.<\/p>\n
Syafii also announced that an earlier case in a hospital in
\nBatam had already been dropped from the list of probable cases,
\nas it was confirmed that the man did not have SARS.<\/p>\n
Another patient under observation is still undergoing
\ntreatment at Sulianti Saroso hospital. The 60-year-old man was
\nbrought to the hospital on Tuesday, after returning from Vietnam
\nwith SARS-like symptoms.<\/p>\n
Syafii said an ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)
\nSARS information website, www.asean.net\/namru2.org was
\ntemporarily online until next week. The website would then be
\nmoved to http:\/\/www.asean-disease-surveillance.net.<\/p>\n
The health ministry confirmed the purchase of several thermal
\nscanners to be installed at some of Indonesia's 24 points of
\nentry, including both air and seaports. The devices might be
\ninstalled sometime next week.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/workers-urge-govt-protection-from-sars-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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