18,000 workers needed

18,000 workers needed

SAMARINDA, East Kalimantan (Antara): The Indonesian forestry
sector will need an estimated 18,000 workers until the year 2000
to ensure sustainable forestry development, an official said
Saturday.

In 1995 alone, the Indonesian forestry sector needed a total
of 23,213 workers, but only 9,133 workers were employed, I Made
Wessen of the East Kalimantan Office of the Manpower Ministry
told a one-day seminar here.

The lack of workers should have proper attention from the
relevant state agencies and forest concession holders to ensure
sustainable forestry development, he said.

Giving an example, he said, more than 70 forest concession
holders in East Kalimantan had difficulties employing skilled
forestry workers.

He said the province now had job vacancies for a total of 422
college graduates majoring in forestry, but only 178 had been
filled.

Bandi Supraptono, a forestry expert, underlined the need for
forestry companies to organize in-house training to anticipate
the shortage of skilled forestry workers by the year 2000.