The Riau branch of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) has demanded the Batam administration remove a regulation limiting the number of newcomers claiming it will restrict the number of qualified workers needed on the island.
Abidin, head of Riau’s Apindo branch, said Thursday that his office was demanding the administration remove the 2001 regulation that may slow investment growth in the area.
“Recently, businessmen are in dire need of up to 36,000 skilled workers. We have found difficulties in finding employees since newcomers have been restricted,” Abidin told The Jakarta Post.
According to the regulation, Abidin added, newcomers must undergo a complicated bureaucratic procedure if they wanted to seek work in Batam.
“They also have to spend a lot of money to arrange administrative matters during the processes at the bureaucratic level,” he said.
The Batam Mayor Ahmad Dahlan said his office had not removed or revised the regulation in order to avoid any imbalances between the population and natural resources, such as the supply of clean water and land.
“Land and water reservoirs are only sufficient to accommodate and provide for 1 million people. We have applied the regulation to anticipate a possible overpopulation,” Ahmad said.
As of June, population in the regency was 965,062, up from 710,830 as of the same time last year.
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