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

;JP:bkm; ANPAa..r.. 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

;JP;bkm; ANPAa..r.. 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