Another 34 labor exporters licensed

JAKARTA (JP): The government will not limit the number of labor export companies in the country as long as they comply with regulations, Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief said yesterday.

"Any company which has completed the administrative requirements will get a license in no time," Latief said after presenting licenses to 34 manpower supplier companies, which had been scrutinized by the ministry's evaluation team.

With the issuance of new licenses yesterday, the number of employment companies is now 86.

Some of those companies that have secured their license had urged the government to stop issuing new licenses, saying that the market is already saturated.

Latief urged labor companies to properly manage the way they dispatch Indonesian workers abroad. He pointed out that some of these workers have to struggle hard to survive in foreign countries.

"The government doesn't want to hear anymore reports of Indonesian workers being abused by their foreign employers," he said, citing an example of a recent report suggesting that an Indonesian maid servant was tortured with an iron by her employer.

To avoid a repetition, the Ministry of Manpower has set up a team to select companies applying for a license by studying their backgrounds, including their management records, Latief said.

"Any complaint on the violation of workers abroad will be the responsibility of not only the labor exporting company but also the government, in this case the evaluation team," he stated.

The number of complaints about Indonesian workers being abused abroad has decreased, thanks to the ministry's tight selection in granting licenses to applicants, he said.

Latief said the government will not hesitate to revoke the licenses of manpower exporting companies if they're found to have violated the regulations or have neglected their obligations.

"Workers are not business commodities," he said, adding that labor exporting companies should send more skilled workers overseas, not just manual laborers.

To compete with India, Vietnam, Thailand, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the Philippines, labor companies in Indonesia should always upgrade their managements as well as their marketing and financial skills, he said. (03)