Govt seeks approval of labor bill

JAKARTA: The government has asked the House of Representatives to speed up the deliberation of a bill on the protection of migrant workers and endorse it before the general election in April.

Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea said on Friday such a law was badly needed as the basis for improvement in government policy to protect Indonesian workers employed overseas.

Nuwa Wea said his ministry was drafting regulations, in the form of ministerial and presidential decrees, to implement the law.

"The deliberation will start early in February and we will hopefully finish the debate in three months at the latest," he said.

The bill is expected to protect migrant workers from abuse and illegal labor export and placement overseas, practices that are rampant, the minister said.

Nuwa Wea also said the government would summon at least 10 labor recruitment companies for questioning in connection with reports of their involvement in the illegal placement of workers abroad. -- Antara