Batam to get Rp 2.5b for labor training

Fadli The Jakarta Post Batam

The mayoralty of Batam in the province of Riau will receive Rp 2.5 billion in financial assistance from the central government to train unskilled workers, including members of the indigenous Malay community.

Arifin, head of Batam's manpower and transmigration office, said here on Monday that the money, called the Guidance Fund for Workers' Skills (DPKK), was collected from fees paid yearly by expatriates working in the country.

The fund will be used to finance training programs for migrant jobseekers and jobless locals, he said.

"We are the only municipality that has obtained the fund from the central government. The money is usually provided to the provinces," Arifin told The Jakarta Post.

He said the fund was a response to his office's proposal submitted to Jakarta for labor training funds. Under the proposal, Arifin had designed 14 training programs, in which 60 percent of the participants would be migrant jobseekers and 40 percent would be jobless locals.

Data shows that at least 2,055 foreigners working in Batam contribute a grand total of US$1,200 as part of their annual fees paid to the local manpower and transmigration office.

Arifin said the assistance fund for Batam would be reimbursed by March at the latest. "All technical requirements have been completed and we are waiting for reimbursement."

He said he hoped that the money would help improve the vocational skills of local people, particularly the indigenous Malay people.

Secretary of the Batam-based Indonesian Prosperity Trade Union (SBSI) Yudi Kurnaen urged the administration to use the fund effectively by gradually improving the skills of locals, so that local workers would be able to compete with expatriates in the future.

"We hope the DPKK money from the central government will lessen the gap in skills among local workers," he said.

Last year, Batam only received Rp 300 million in regular training funds from the central government.

Netty Herawaty, who heads the Batam branch of the All- Indonesia Workers Union Federation (FSPSI), said the aid showed Jakarta's commitment to developing human resources among indigenous people.

"The important point is not the amount of money, but the fact that Batam is the only city to receive the fund," she said.

So far, Batam has only one labor training center, which is poorly equipped, located in the Batu Aji area.