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.