Java, Lombok workers stage protest in Jambi

JAKARTA (JP): About 200 workers from East Java, Jember in Central Java, and Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara, have demonstrated in Jambi to protest what they said was inhumane treatment by the management of the labor supply company which recruited them.

Antara reported on Saturday that the workers who had applied to work overseas had, among other things, been threatened by company people and had to sell their clothes to buy food.

The workers also demanded to be immediately sent overseas, as was promised by PT Tenaga Sejahtera Wirasta.

Jumiah, 24, said she has been waiting for eight months to be sent to Malaysia to work as a maid.

"We've only been eating rice and boiled vegetables every day," she said, adding she was a widow with three children.

Another woman said she had to prostitute herself for food and for her children in Java.

"I am ashamed to ask money from my parents," one woman said.

Two men, Jafar Sidiq and Maskur, said they were promised work at a rubber plantation in Malaysia, adding that they were forced to find other work as they have been waiting since September.

Workers said they had paid Rp 700,000 to Rp 1 million for documents, including passports, to the company but had yet to see their passports.

The company's director, Zainal Abidin, said the reports were exaggerated and that there was no intention to delay sending the workers.

The visas had yet to be obtained, he said.

Also on Saturday, Antara reported that the Semarang Legal Aid Office presented awards to eight workers of PT Kayu Lapis Indonesia (KLI) timber firm in conjunction with International Labor Day, which fell on May 1.

The eight were victims of shooting by security personnel in a demonstration in Kendal, Central Java, on March 5.

The awards were presented to a representative, Muronah. Dwi Saputra, the office's labor division head, said the awards symbolized support for workers' struggle, mainly in the province. (anr)