Business booms for Nunukan islanders

Fitri Wulandari and Tertiani Z.B. Simanjuntak, Nunukan, East Kalimantan

"Has your passport been sorted out?" asks the owner of a store in downtown Nunukan Island of anyone whom she believes does not belong to the island, Indonesian migrant workers in particular.

Her inquiry, warm though it may sound, is far from an expression of sympathy for undocumented Indonesian migrant workers who flocked to the island after Malaysia imposed a tough new immigration law last month. In fact, the store owner, like many other inhabitants of the island, has been benefiting from the presence of migrant workers by offering a variety of services, from passport processing to providing accommodation.

Located in the easternmost tip of East Kalimantan in the border of the Malaysian state of Sabah, Nunukan island, the capital of Nunukan regency, has become a favorable transit point for job seekers from East Java, Sulawesi and the Nusa Tenggara islands.

The island's population is less than 22,000 and the arrival of migrant workers, whose number is three times that of the locals, has overwhelmed the island.

Even before the influx of the migrant workers, Nunukan was not a very impressive town. The arrival of the migrants has simply worsened the town's dull and chaotic appearance. Now it is simply packed with people. Everywhere you go, there are people, young, old, women, men and children, those 17,600 migrant workers still waiting to have their documents processed before returning to Malaysia.

The coastal town, which is hot at the best of times, has become unbearably hot with the presence of workers who fill the houses of local residents, vacant buildings, makeshift tents, fields and markets. Many even occupy the fish market, looking really miserable.

Despite the problems, the islanders have benefited from the presence of the job seekers. For decades, locals have run businesses that cater for the migrant workers. The number of hotels and inns, restaurants and public transportation vehicles has continued to rise, at a rate faster than the rate of growth in any other sector. These businesses have become the second- largest source of revenue for the young regency.

Many islanders also work as middlemen to help migrant workers obtain an ID card issued by the local administration. Others specialize in obtaining a special identity card for Indonesian migrant workers, known as a KITKI.

Others still arrange passports or short-time travel documents, even though they are not authorized to do so. Providing transportation for workers to the city of Tawau in Sabah is another lucrative business, as is the processing of job contracts, either through Indonesian manpower supply companies (PJTKIs) or their counterparts in Malaysia. Those with sufficient capital run mobile money exchange services, as Malaysia does not accept the Indonesian rupiah.

Business thrives on Nunukan mainly because most of the inhabitants are from the Bugis tribe of South Sulawesi or people from the Nusa Tenggara islands. Both are known to be pioneers in starting and running risky businesses, including smuggling. Indeed, they effectively dominate the informal sector.

The Bugis and Nusa Tenggara people account for nearly half of the total 38,387 population of the island. The island's indigenous people, the Tidung tribespeople, make up less than 3 percent of the population.

Prior to 1999, the area that today makes up Nunukan regency -- the land area in northern East Kalimantan and Nunukan island -- belonged to Bulungan regency.

Nunukan island lies to the south of the Sipadan and Ligitan islands, whose ownership is contested by Malaysia and Indonesia. During Indonesia's confrontation with Malaysia in the early 1960s, Nunukan played a critical role. It served as the first line of defense for the Indonesian Navy.

Nunukan regency covers a total area of 14,585.70 square kilometers. It has five districts, Nunukan, Krayan, Lumbis, Sebakung and Sebatik. Nunukan island is located close to Sebatik island, which belongs to both Indonesia and Malaysia.

The regency is among the least developed regions in the country. Only few of the residents have a university education, as most feel a high school education suffices.

In 2000, Nunukan had an annual budget of Rp 46.5 billion (US$5.2 million), which was mainly derived from East Kalimantan's tax revenue from the oil and gas industries. Last year the regency's revenue, mainly from tax, stood at Rp 600 million.

As capital of the regency, the 21,450-square-kilometer island is the main gate to neighboring Tawau in Sabah. Rather than shopping at East Kalimantan's Tarakan island, Nunukan residents prefer to go to Tawau by boat. A trip to Tawau costs only Rp 50,000 per person, although travelers have to obtain beforehand a special passport (border crossing pass, or PLB) to cross the border.

Malaysian businesspeople, meanwhile, use Tunontaka harbor, the island's main and official port, to take a small plane to the East Kalimantan capital, Samarinda, or the affluent Bontang region to play golf.

The significance of the island can be traced back to 1938 when the Bugis and Nusa Tenggara people, mainly from Flores, first used the island as a transit point before entering Tawau to trade spices and cocoa. The British government then employed them to work in the cocoa or rubber plantations in Sabah. Many of the pioneer workers settled in Sabah.

The three-year work contract issued by the British attracted other migrant workers from other parts of Indonesia, including those from East Java, to try their luck in the "adjacent village".

In recent years, things have changed and it is not as easy as before to find work in Malaysia. However, with many of the Bugis and Nusa Tenggara people now living in Sabah, new job seekers find it hard to believe that the old days are really gone. And if things get rough, a short cut is available: bribery.

As a result, job seekers pay more money to get a job contract in Malaysia. This is due to, among other things, the establishment in 1993 of PJTKIs to organize the migrant workers. Each step workers have to go through before securing a job costs money. A 24-page passport officially costs Rp 115,000, but via PJTKI agents the cost may rise to Rp 1 million. This practice has been going on for decades and explains the high number of undocumented workers. Why go through PJTKIs when there are easier, cheaper ways?

Many job seekers then resort to illegal means and go to Malaysia without passports or work permits. They only have to pay the cost of travel from their village. As long as the problem remains, Nunukan islanders will continue to benefit from the situation.