Contractors assist in drafting bill

Contractors assist in drafting bill

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Contractors Association is assisting the Ministry of Public Works in preparing a draft bill on construction services.

Newly-elected chairman of the association Fatchur Rochman said on Tuesday that the draft bill, now under the scrutiny of the ministry, will cover all aspects of the construction industry, including the operation of foreign consultants and contractors in Indonesia.

Under the General Agreement on Trade in Services, Indonesia is committed to opening up five of its service sectors, including construction.

The construction industry has also been identified as one of the service sectors to be liberalized within the framework of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"We expect that the draft will be able to be delivered to the House of Representatives for deliberation as soon as possible," Fatchur said.

The bill will cover the certification of the expertise of contractors and their workers, he said.

The government, particularly the Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of Public Works, should pay attention to the quality of construction workers, Fatchur said, because Indonesia will have to be prepared for competition with foreign workers when the industry is liberalized.

Failure to improve the quality of Indonesian construction workers through training could mean the domination of the construction job market by foreigners in the era of free trade in services, said Fachtur, who was elected association chairman for the second time last week.

Fatchur is assisted in guiding the association by deputy chairmen Soeryanto Mangundiwiryo and Frans S. Sunito and secretary-general Darma Tyanto Saptodewo.(31)