Apjati urges creation of national agency for TKI

JAKARTA (JP): The Labor Exporters Association (Apjati) is calling on the government to set up a new national agency to simplify overseas Indonesian worker (TKI) affairs which it currently considers to be too complicated, ineffective and inefficient.

Husein A. Alaydrus, chairman of Apjati, said the continued controversy regarding overseas workers had a lot to do with the absence of strong coordination in the executive body and the increasing number of Indonesian workers overseas who encounter problems.

"It's better for the government to set up a national agency to handle overseas worker affairs because the current procedure is very complicated, ineffective and inefficient," he said.

Husein stated that the recruitment of workers and their dispatch overseas had to go through complicated procedures from local administrations, the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, the National Police, the directorate general of immigration, the Transportation Ministry and the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

"The absence of legal certainty in overseas employment has resulted in a high cost economy," he said, adding that with the establishment of a national agency, the matter would no longer be under the whim of various bureaucracies.

Husein said the government has the main task of facilitating and creating a climate conducive for people to work overseas to help alleviate unemployment problems and increase remittances from the sector.

"The government also has an obligation to provide training for workers," he added pointing to the fact that many Indonesian workers abroad get into trouble because of their poor skills. (rms)