Cirebon rattan workers protest govt regulation

Cirebon rattan workers protest govt regulation

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post/Cirebon

A noisy protest against a government regulation was staged on
Thursday by 5,000 rattan workers in Cirebon regency, a major
producer of rattan furniture in West Java.

The protesters, calling themselves the Community of Cirebon
Rattan Workers and Craftsmen, demanded that the government repeal
a regulation that allows unprocessed rattan to be exported. They
also demanded that trade minister Mari E. Pangestu resign from
her post for issuing the regulation, which they said disregarded
the interests of the local rattan industry.

The regulation took effect on June 30.

According protest coordinator Badrudin, the workers fear
losing their jobs because the regulation could cause bankruptcy
within the regency's rattan industry, which is centered in
Tegalwangi.

"The regulation poses a serious threat to the continuance of
the rattan industry. The regulation will create problems in
getting raw materials, which can now directly be sent abroad. In
the end, our livelihoods will be shattered, and there'll be no
more work for us," Badrudin said.

The protest, staged outside the Cirebon Legislative Council
building, was heavily guarded by security personnel. All routes
into the city center were heavily congested, with hundreds of
trucks carrying protesters jamming the streets.

Cirebon Legislative Council Speaker Tasiya Soemadi Al Gotas
met the protesters and promised to help pressure the government
into reviewing the regulation.

"We will ask that all regulations that do not support the
people are repealed. We'll pressure the government to pay
attention to people's interests, especially rattan workers,"
Tasiya said.

Cirebon Association of Indonesian Handicraft and Furniture
Businessmen chairman Sumarca said Ministry of Trade Regulation
No. 12/2005 could cause bankruptcies in the rattan industry in
Tegalwangi.

The regulation, he said, would make it hard for 1,200
companies in the industry to get raw materials, which mostly come
from outside Java, such as from Sulawesi.

"With the regulation, rattan farmers will opt to export their
rattan. In the end, it will make it hard for the rattan industry
to source raw materials," Sumarca said.

He said that if the government insisted on retaining the
regulation, 400,000 rattan workers could lose their jobs if the
companies they worked for could not secure a supply of raw
materials to continue production.

"We'll ask the government to immediately repeal the
regulation, which disadvantages (the rattan industry)," he said.

He warned that the rattan industry might soon become history,
considering that only 127 companies were still operating. The
industry's decline, he added, could also be seen from the
decrease in exported rattan furniture.

Previously, he said, exports reached between 1,800 and 2,000
containers per month to Europe, the U.S. and Japan. Exports
currently average 900 containers a month. "This is the lowest
export figure in the last five years," Sumarca said.

He blamed the government for issuing the regulation
considering the already high smuggling rate of unprocessed
rattan. "Even before the government issued the regulation, a lot
of rattan was being smuggled abroad, Now, with the regulation,
rattan growers will compete to sell their rattan abroad," Sumarca
said.

Indonesia is one of the biggest rattan producers in the world
with a production capacity of 250,000 to 400,000 tons per year.
Meanwhile, local demand is estimated to be around 130,000 tons
per year.

"But this does not that mean Indonesia has to make it easy to
export rattan abroad and destroy the local industry. The
government should exercise wisdom," Sumarca said.

Meanwhile, Cirebon Regent Dedi Suparti expressed fear that the
regulation would cause a slump in the local industry and increase
unemployment in his regency.

"Hundreds of workers have already been told to stay at home
because the rattan companies they work for are having problems
getting unprocessed rattan to continue production. If this
continues, the number of unemployed people in Cirebon could
explode," Dedi said.