RI faces hurdles in filling 6 million jobs in S. Arabia

JAKARTA (JP): Saudi Arabia has some 6 million job openings in the formal sector but many Indonesian labor export companies are unable to send skilled workers.

Waleed A. al Swaidan, chairman of the committee of worker placement agencies in Saudi Arabia, said here that most openings were for computer experts, nurses, and skilled construction and factory workers.

If Indonesia failed to meet the demand, Saudi Arabia could turn to other countries, Waleed said.

There are 6 million foreign workers from 120 countries in Saudi Arabia.

Indonesian labor export companies were unable to supply enough workers who could meet certain educational and training standards, including proficiency in English, he said.

Waleed is here at the invitation of Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief, who presented him with a citation for his role in the efforts to free from the death penalty Nasiroh Karmudin, an Indonesian worker convicted in Saudi Arabia for murder.

The Indonesian Association of Labor Export Companies (Apjati) also received an award.

Indonesia began sending workers overseas to generate more foreign exchange in the early 1980s.

The Ministry of Manpower has said that as of March this year, 1.95 million Indonesians were working abroad, earning an average monthly wage of US$300.

The government also said that migrant workers had contributed millions of dollars in foreign exchange to Indonesia over the last three years of the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan.

In Saudi Arabia, Indonesian bank tellers and nurses can make about Saudi Real 2,500 ($583) a month, while domestic workers -- who make up the bulk of Indonesian workers there -- and drivers make about SR600.

Hundreds of thousands of Indonesians work illegally there.

It is usually the illegal, menial workers that fare badly because they are not protected by the law.

Antara reported Friday that many Indonesian labor export companies had conceded it was difficult to find skilled workers for the formal sectors in Saudi and other countries.

Poor English is one of the main problems.

Waleed said: "We're following the market mechanism. If one country fails to meet labor demands in one sector, the employment placement agency in Saudi Arabia will automatically look to another country."

Other countries that send workers to Saudi Arabia include Bangladesh, Egypt and India.

Waleed claimed that his government provided protection to migrant workers, saying: "We are applying a religious law before which every human being is treated equal, whether he is indigenous or foreigner."

He said the problem was that Indonesian workers often did not know where to seek help to settle disputes with their employers.

Separately, the head of Apjati's Saudi Arabia Division, Farid Nahdi, said his organization would cooperate with the Indonesian consul in Jeddah to take legal action against employers who refused to pay Indonesian workers. (aan)