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.