Govt won't be rushed in licensing labor exporters
Govt won't be rushed in licensing labor exporters
JAKARTA (JP): The ministry of manpower said yesterday it would
not be rushed into issuing operating licenses to companies
sending Indonesian workers abroad, adding that new permits would
only be issued in accordance with the government's labor export
targets.
Director General for Manpower Placement Abdul Rachim said that
the government would issue only 23 new licenses this year, in
addition to the 52 already issued, in order to achieve its target
of sending 150,000 Indonesian workers abroad this year.
Each company is expected to send an average of 2,000 workers
per year.
Many manpower companies have been waiting for new business
licenses since August, when the government ordered all such
companies to reregister as part of its efforts to clamp down on
the lucrative industry which, it feared, was getting out of
control.
At the time, more than 300 companies were registered with the
manpower ministry. As of yesterday, the government has issued
only 52 new licenses.
Abdul Rachim said the other companies would have to be patient
and wait their turn, adding that some of the licenses might take
two years before they are issued.
He said that the government planned to issue a total of 250
licenses over the next three years to meet its target of sending
a total of 1.25 million workers during the current five-year
development plan, which will end in March 1999.
Executives of four labor supply companies called a press
conference yesterday to voice their frustration over the fact
that they have not yet been issued with new operating licenses.
The four -- PT Intrasco Kilat, PT Lansima, PT Sukma Karya
Sejati and PT Dutakusumaros Persadha -- say they are facing
bankruptcy because they have continued to employ their staff and
have retained their offices, paying their bills and taxes, but
have not been permitted to dispatch any workers in the absence of
the license.
"Every time we have gone to the ministry of manpower to ask
for our license, we have been told to be patient," Saleh Lubis of
PT Intrasco Kilat told reporters.
Rachim said careful selection was crucial in order to ensure
that all licensed companies worked professionally.
He said some of the applicants had poor records in managing
their affairs.
He cited cases in which Indonesian workers had been left
stranded abroad, or been abused by their employers. Rachim said
such incidents were largely the result of a lack of
professionalism on the part of the labor agencies which sent them
over. (rms)