24,000 RI workers to be sent home

24,000 RI workers to be sent home

MATARAM, West Nusa Tenggara: As a war in Iraq and the threat of a
mysterious virus spread by travelers cast a pall over the labor
market, 24,255 workers from East Nusa Tenggara will be sent home
as their contracts expire this year, a local official said on
Monday.

Most of the 16,478 workers will be returning from Malaysia,
said the head of the provincial manpower and transmigration
office, Sirojul Munir.

Another 7,382 workers will return from Saudi Arabia, 212
workers from Brunei Darussalam, 128 workers from the United Arab
Emirates, 54 workers from Kuwait and one from Hong Kong, Sirojul
said.

It remains unclear whether these countries might renew the
workers' contracts. In Malaysia, the massive departure of workers
could affect labor-intensive business sectors, such as
construction.

Sirojul said West Nusa Tenggara sent a total of 40,000 workers
overseas this year, most of whom found employment in Malaysia.

Workers are being sent home as the market for overseas work is
in a slump. Last week, Minister of Manpower and Transmigration
Jacob Nua Wea suspended the dispatch of some 8,000 workers due to
the global spread of the flu-like virus known as the Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

Security jitters in the Middle East are also holding back the
supply of workers. Indonesia has over 64,000 workers in the
region, almost all of whom have remained there despite the war in
Iraq. -- Antara

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WKalimantan-women-council
Women wanted for councillorship
JP/ /

Women wanted for councillorship

PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan: A group called Gemawan has collected
the names of 256 women in West Kalimantan that it considers
qualified to contest the membership of the provincial legislature
during the 2004 general election.

Gemawan said its survey was in response to the new election
law, which sets aside a 30 percent quota for women in the
legislature.

The 256 women have backgrounds that represent the province's
different religions, communities and organizations, the
coordinator of Gemawan's women's division, Laili Khainur, said on
Monday.

She said Gemawan sent out interviewers to various cities and
towns in West Kalimantan to screen potential candidates from
across the province.

Next, she said, was to obtain the women's detailed profiles
and make them available on the Internet. Political parties could
then access the information to aid in their recruitment.

Laili said that the survey was a project led by the Center for
Electoral Reform (Cetro), a civil group that seeks to improve the
quality of Indonesia's elections. Cetro held similar surveys in
Medan, Makassar, Surabaya and Jakarta, she added. -- Antara

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SeastSulawesi-forests-protected
Saving forests need concerted efforts
JP/ /Across

Saving forests needs concerted efforts: Govt

KENDARI, Southeast Sulawesi: Southeast Sulawesi Governor Ali Mazi
called on Monday for tighter cooperation between the government,
civil groups and other organizations to save the province's
protected forests from illegal logging.

Ali urged universities, non-governmental organizations and
local communities to join hands with the government to save the
forests.

He said the government could not fight illegal logging by
itself. Overlapping authority due to regional autonomy had led to
poor law enforcement against illegal loggers, Ali said.

Some people often took the law into their own hands and
claimed ownership of protected forests, he said urging people to
exercise what he called their "ecological wisdom", which would
help protect their forests for generations.

"But this wisdom gradually fades when people are made sky-high
offers from outsiders who are seeking to exploit the forests,"
the governor said.

Timber, mining and plantation companies also impinge on
efforts to protect the forest from overexploitation, he said.

Provinces across the country face similar problems with
illegal loggers. Environmental watchdogs largely blame this on
poor law enforcement since the authorities are either bribed to
ignore illegal logging or a lack of funding has rendered their
efforts ineffective. -- Antara