Center set up for migrant workers

Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam, Riau

The central government has established a training and empowerment center for Indonesian overseas workers on the industrial island of Batam, Riau province. The center, to be managed by the PT Batam International Training Center, will be inaugurated on March 26 by Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea.

Chalief Akbar, social and cultural affairs head at the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore, said on Tuesday that the center would train Indonesian workers before they were sent to their overseas posts, particularly to Singapore and Malaysia.

He said the Empowerment and Training Center for Indonesian Migrant Workers (LPPTKI) aimed to protect migrant workers and equip them with adequate skills for overseas employment.

"Migrant workers' lack of English language and their poor knowledge of modern household appliances are the main reasons for their lower pay compared to maids from the Philippines. Such a training center would therefore be of much benefit," said Chalief.

The government is planning to establish Batam as a gateway for overseas migrant workers to Singapore.

Harry, who is in charge of the center's construction, said construction activities that started last January would be finished within two days.

The center is located in the Puri Industrial Park 2000 in Nongsa district.

The three-story, 3,000-square-meter building stands on a 3,500-square-meter plot, costs Rp 8 billion (US$1 million) and is equipped with a language laboratory.

Home economics skills and psychological issues related to migrant workers are to be included in the program.

However, it seems the establishment of the center has not involved local authorities.

Batam manpower office head Pirma Marpaung said he was not informed of that such a center was being built on the island. He could only say that the plan to make Batam a gateway for migrant workers to Singapore and Malaysia was being handled by the ministry.

Similarly, Batam Administration head Ismeth Abdullah said he knew nothing about the planned center.

"We have never received an official proposal about the construction of a training center in the industrial park. We should be informed if construction is going on," he said.