Migrant workers still not receiving training

Migrant workers still not receiving training

Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam

The three-story building looked quiet. There was little sign of
life, apart from a guard at the security post up front.

It's been a year since the Indonesian Migrant Worker Training
and Empowerment Center, which is located in the Puri Industrial
Park 2000 on Batam island, was opened by former president
Megawati Soekarnoputri on May 28, 2004.

However, the institute's contribution to workers going abroad,
according to the leader of the Indonesian Workers Welfare Union
in the Riau Islands, Bambang Yulianto, has been insignificant.

He said that many workers leaving for abroad from Tanjung
Pinang and Batam were not equipped with adequate skills, while
the institute was supposed to provide training for Indonesian
workers wanting to work in other countries, such as Malaysia and
Singapore.

"But let's see, we haven't heard of anything happening at the
workers' empowerment institute. And its management is not clear,
whether it's under the central government through the manpower
ministry or what.

"Based on our observations, many workers leaving for Singapore
and Malaysia only stay in their shelters, and aren't provided
with any training or skills," Bambang told The Jakarta Post on
Monday, adding that the construction of the institute in Batam
was a waste of money.

The institute, run by PT Batam International Training Center,
occupies 3,500 square meters, with its buildings covering 3,000
square meters. Constructed at an estimated cost of Rp 8 billion
(US$800,000), it is equipped with a language laboratory, cooking
facilities, and modern home appliances, such as washing machines.

Former manpower and transmigration minister Yacob Nuwa Wea
said during the institute's inauguration last year that the
government planned to make the institute the gateway for sending
housekeeping staff to Singapore from Batam.

"To date, workers have left for Singapore from Jakarta, Tanjung
Pinang, Medan, Surabaya and Manado. In the future, we'll center
it in Batam only and the institute will provide proper references
for these workers," he said.

According to ministry data, around 56,098 Indonesian workers
work legally in Singapore.

But there has been a significant decrease in the number of
workers going to Singapore. In 2001, 23,924 Indonesian workers
worked in the city state, while the number decreased to 16,071 in
2002 and 6,103 in 2003.

Batam municipality manpower office director Pirma Marpaung said that the
institute was run by a private sector firm and the government
only worked as a facilitator.

"I don't know what has happened to the institute. But we can't
ask every manpower agency to send their workers to the institute.
I've heard that it's expensive for workers to be trained there,"
Pirma said.