Govt urges provinces to form committees on child labor
Govt urges provinces to form committees on child labor
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government wants provinces to form committees and implement
concrete plans to eradicate the worst forms of child labor -- in
drug-trafficking, prostitution, offshore fishing, mining and
footwear production.
Minister for Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea said
at the opening of the International Labor Organization's (ILO)
support program on child labor on Thursday such committees had
been established in North Sumatra and East Java.
"We hope that other provinces will follow," he said.
As an example of concrete actions, Jacob hailed the East Java
administration, which in December liberated 685 children from
work by providing scholarships, training, and capital assistance
for their parents.
"Several provinces have also allocated significant amounts in
their budgets to address child labor problems," he said without
naming the provinces.
The ILO has estimated 4 million children below the age of 18
across the country are involved in employment deemed to be
dangerous.
Indonesia set up a national action committee in 2001 and
drafted a 20-year plan to eradicate the worst forms of child
labor.
So far, the government has focused most of its efforts on
drafting regulations, policies and standards, and encouraging
local administrations to pay more attention to the problems.
However, effective law enforcement, acknowledged as the key to
child labor alleviation, is still non-existant.
"Law No. 13/2003 is quite new and people need to learn about
it," said manpower ministry secretary general Tjepy Aloei,
referring to the law regulating women and child labor.
The law sets special requirements for female workers and
regulates which areas of work still suitable for children.
"Our aim this year is that the fishing platforms (in North
Sumatra) will be free of child labor," said Sudaryanto from the
ministry's Directorate of Labor Inspection Norms on Women and
Children.
Aloei said the ministry had difficulties ensuring labor
inspections were carried out, as in in previous years they were
the responsibility of local administrations. "We are currently
trying to develop a system to centralize control," he said.
On direct approaches, ILO's International Program on the
Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) has tried out models on two
pilot projects for children working on fishing platforms in North
Sumatra and in the footwear industry in Cibaduyut, Bandung.
Local administrations can develop similar projects using these
models. ILO-IPEC will develop two other four-year projects in the
same provinces but in different areas -- off-shore fishing in
North Sumatra and the footwear sector in Tasikmalaya, West Java.