Govt suspends 25 labor exporters for sending unskilled workers

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Minister for Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea has suspended the operations of 25 labor supply companies for allegedly violating labor export rules.

The move drew strong protests from the Labor Exporters Association (Apjati), which accused the minister of being authoritarian.

"Such a decisive action is taken to prevent labor exporters from violating export procedures, which could place workers in dangerous situations during their employment overseas," Nuwa Wea said here over the weekend.

The 25 companies, 14 of which were members of Apjati, were ordered on March 25 to suspend their operations indefinitely on suspicions they had supplied unskilled workers to the Middle East and placed workers in countries not recommended by the Indonesian government.

More than 2 million Indonesians are working in several Middle East countries, both legally and illegally.

Labor exporter companies suspended included PT Agesa Asa Jaya, PT Pancamanah, PT Irfan Jaya Saputra, PT Ipwikon Jasindo, PT Amira Prima, PT Alfira Perdana Jaya and PT Acindo.

Nuwa Wea conceded he took the measure without consulting with the companies.

"The suspension will remain until these companies prove they are not guilty," he said.

Nuwa Wea made the decision after his recent visit to Middle East. During the visit he discovered more than 8,000 Indonesian workers had been placed illegally in Syria and hundreds of others were employed in Kuwait and Jordan without any pre-departure training here in Indonesia.

Indonesia has yet to sign a bilateral agreement on labor migration with Syria while Ministerial Decree No. 104A/2002 on labor exports requires labor export companies to train workers for at least 30 days before they are sent overseas.

Apjati head Husen Alaydrus regretted the minister's move, which he said was arbitrary and unfair since the companies were not given any chance to clarify their situations.

"We have filed a complaint to President Megawati Soekarnoputri to protest the minister's arbitrary action, which has caused material losses to these companies," Husen said. Thousands of workers could now not be sent overseas and the companies affected would be hit with extra costs feeding and accommodating them, he said.

Husen said the 14 companies grouped in Apjati had never supplied workers to Syria nor sent untrained workers to Middle Eastern countries.

"If the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry has evidence that the 14 firms have violated the decrees as the minister has accused them of, Apjati will fully support the minister, not only in suspending their operations but also in revoking their operation licenses and bringing them to court," he said.

Husen said the minister could investigate the cases by checking workers' documents and their labor contracts. Many unauthorized companies had used the names of authorized companies to disguise their illegal operations, he said.

"The strange thing is that the minister is not concentrating on the labor export procedures that require all documents, including training certificates, to be checked and approved by the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry.

"If untrained workers are being certified and approved for overseas placements, (Nuwa Wea) should first take action against his subordinates," Husen said.