Bomer and Apjati clash over ministerial decree

Bomer and Apjati clash over ministerial decree

JAKARTA (JP): Manpower minister Bomer Pasaribu fought back on
Monday against criticism of a 1999 ministerial decree that
increased the minimum amount of capital labor export companies
must have.

Bomer defended the decree issued by his predecessor Fahmi
Idris in August last year, saying it was imperative for labor
exporters to posses large amounts of capital because their
businesses dealt with manpower.

"Labor supply companies can not treat workers as a commodity.
Furniture can be dumped if it is not saleable but workers sent
overseas do not deserve the same treatment," he said.

Bomer was responding to protests lodged by the Association of
Labor Export Companies (Apjati) against the decree.

The decree stipulates a labor export company place Rp 750
million in assets and another Rp 250 million in bank deposits on
behalf of the manpower minister for the protection of its workers
abroad.

Association chairman Abdulla Umar told The Jakarta Post on
Saturday none of 425 members of the association would comply with
the decree because they judged it unable to protect workers.

Bomer, however, said he would likely revise the decree if the
companies resisted it or refused to follow it.

"It was not me who signed the decree in August 1999. It
remains open to amendments," he said. He added several labor
exporters had bowed to the regulation.

The decree replaces the previous one issued in 1996 requiring
labor exporters to have assets amounting to Rp 450 million. The
aim of the law was to reduce the numbers of labor exporters and
to improve legal protection and insurance guarantees for workers.

Abdulla expressed his disappointment with Bomer's response on
Monday, saying it was evidence that the minister and Din
Syamsuddin, the director general for labor placement, did not
know much about the crucial problems facing the labor export
industry.

"The decree was aimed at controlling the booming labor
supplying companies. The ministry had just issued new licenses to
250 new companies over the last six months. This indicates the
minister and the director general are not professional," he said,
citing the matter has been reported to the President.

Abdulla said the decree was unfair because it treated small
companies in the same way as larger ones. He said it would be
better for the government to tighten its supervision of labor
exporters' performances and the quality of workers sent overseas
to ensure their protection.

He revealed the government collected more than Rp 70 billion
annually from workers employed overseas but that the funds had
never been used to assist troubled workers, including the
hundreds of people stranded in Indonesian embassies in Middle
Eastern countries.

Abdulla said the association would suggest the House of
Representatives (DPR) pressed the government to revise the labor
export policy.

He added the association would hold an extraordinary congress,
scheduled for May 23 and May 24, to evaluate the labor export
policy and the performance of labor exporters.

He said Malaysia, Taiwan and Middle Eastern countries were in
need of around 600,000 foreign workers but Indonesia could not
meet the demand because of the unfavorable business climate.

Indonesian needs a labor export policy that not only helps the
government solve the unemployment problem, but increases its
income from the sector, he said. (rms)