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)