North Sumatra labor abuse claims denied

North Sumatra labor abuse claims denied

MEDAN (JP): Manpower authorities in North Sumatra deny that
any workers are being abused or children put to work on the many
jermal, or fishing stations, located off the east coast of the
province.

The chief of the manpower ministry's North Sumatra office, I
Gede Bagus Swide, said that the issues were old and baseless.

"We recently took a trip to the waters and found no child
workers or labor exploitation," he told The Jakarta Post.

He also strongly denied that there was any collusion between
station owners and the Navy officers that routinely patrol the
local waters.

Swide, also a Navy officer, said recent complaints in local
and foreign media about the poor labor conditions on the stations
were aimed at discrediting the government and tarnishing the
nation's image.

The International Labor Organization, at its recent meeting on
the elimination of child labor in the Netherlands, expressed
great concern about Indonesia's more than five million child
workers.

Another local manpower official, who asked not to be
identified, admitted that children were employed on most stations
but said that provincial authorities were reluctant to step in
due to the Navy's involvement.

"Who would dare report any case involving Navy officers or
those from the Army, the Air Force or police?" he asked.

He added that it was difficult for his office to check on and
supervise the labor conditions on the stations.

"We have no vessels and the jermal can only be reached during
the dry season between April and October," he said. During the
wet season, between November and February, only bigger ships can
reach them due to high waves.

Health

Linggarjati, who heads the provincial office of PT Jamsostek,
a state-owned company that runs the government's social security
program for workers, refused to comment on the issue or
Jamsostek's joint health program with Navy cooperatives for
fishermen and jermal workers in Tanjungbalai.

"I know nothing about the jermal," he said.

He suggested that the local manpower office look into the
issue with the help of the local coordinating board for marine
security, Bakorkamla.

Florensius Gultom, head of the Asahan branch office of
Jamsostek in Kisaran, some 117 kilometers south of Medan, said
Jamsostek would ask the local Bakorkamla branch to pressure
jermal owners into complying with labor laws and improving the
welfare of their workers.

"Jermal employing 10 or more workers must pay their workers in
accordance with minimum wage regulations and sign up their
workers for the Jamsostek social security program as stipulated
by Law No. 3/1992," he said.

He admitted that his office had yet to collect data on the
number of workers and fishing stations in the area, though local
manpower data puts the number of stations at around 140 and the
number of workers at nearly 1,400.

Gultom said it was difficult to catch up with jermal owners
because most of them lived in Medan and his office had no boats
to reach the stations. He also slammed the local chapter of the
Indonesian Fishermen Association (HSNI) for doing nothing about
the poor labor conditions.

"The jermal issue has been raised several times by local and
foreign media and the local HNSI has been urged many times to
protect jermal workers, but no efforts have been made to improve
the conditions," he said.

PT Jamsostek's operations director, Budi Maryoto, said that
workers would continue to be abused on the jermal if the
government did not enforce labor laws.

He added that the government also had to address the roots of
the problem.

"Young people and children would not be going to the jermal
looking for work if they and their families were better off
economically. The workers also wouldn't be paid so little if they
were recruited properly," he said.

Navy officials have admitted that many officers stationed on
ships in North Sumatran waters had committed violations during
their patrolling of the jermal.

"A team from the Navy's inspectorate general recently looked
into the jermal issue. We found several mistakes and violations
committed by Navy officers in their patrol operations," Navy
spokesman Col. Mualimin Santoso said in a recent interview with
the Post in Jakarta.

He said any officer found guilty of extorting money from
station owners or workers or any other abuse of power would be
punished.

He said the Navy was open to criticism and asked the public to
report any violation or irregularity involving its officers.
(rms)