People's welfare and price hikes

People's welfare and price hikes

From Warta Kota

Some government officials say the increased prices of liquefied petroleum gas and fuel oil, and the higher telephone, electricity, water and parking rates in Indonesia are still lower than the prices and rates abroad. But why don't they compare the wages of local workers and the welfare of their overseas counterparts?

During my experience working abroad (1971-1979), I met a port worker in Saint John, Canada, who went to work in a sedan he bought on credit. In Rouen, France, a port worker used his own car to pull the rope to moor boats. In Durban, South Africa, a taxi driver could afford to live in an apartment that would be considered condominium class in Jakarta.

A painter in the New Castle shipyard, Britain, owned a beautiful house and his counterpart in the Sembawang shipyard, Singapore, purchased various electronic appliances. An elevator operator in Bergen, Norway, and crane operators in Mobile, Alabama, and Port Arthur, Texas, invited me out to dinner every night.

In Yokohama, Japan, a port sweeper carried his equipment in his own car. In Malaysia, Indonesia workers can make more money than they can at home. Why doesn't the government promote their welfare?

At Tanjung Priok port, Jakarta, I still see port workers going home with old pieces of wood and small sacks of cement on their shoulders, in sharp contrast to the labor conditions abroad. With the planned rate and price rises, the level of public welfare will be lowered even further.

ALBERT Jakarta