RI workers go overseas in search for high salaries

RI workers go overseas in search for high salaries

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Working as cheap labor in a regional hospital in the West Sumatra
town of Batu Sangkar, Sepli Rosa never dreamed she would one day
meet with a minister in Jakarta and work for a high salary
overseas.

But she achieved that on Friday.

The 26-year-old woman, who was employed as a nurse at the
regional general hospital in the town at a monthly salary of Rp
200,000 (US$25) for two years until 2002, felt joyful when she
and 152 other nurses heard an advisory address from Minister of
Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea at a farewell ceremony
here on Friday.

"Recalling my hard life in my hometown, my parents and other
relatives, I was surprised to hear the minister's advice to work
hard to make money as well as to help build Indonesia's good
image overseas. We shall be working as nurses in general
hospitals in Kuwait," she said after the gathering.

She imagined that she would be bringing at least Rp 250
million back home after working for two years in that small, but
rich country.

Halimah binti Muhni, a 26-year-old nurse from Medan, capital
of North Sumatra, said she was interested in working overseas
because she would be paid well and obtain work experience she
could not get at home.

"Besides enjoying good salaries, we shall be working with
colleagues from other countries in luxurious hospitals with
modern medical technology.

"Based on the labor contract we have already signed, we shall
be paid US$1,200 to $1,500 per month, and have a dormitory, three
meals per day, a uniform and transportation facilities, and will
receive annual bonuses, depending on our work experience and
skills," she said.

Halimah graduated from a nursing academy with an S-1 diploma,
and was previously employed as a nurse at a private hospital in
Medan at a gross monthly salary of Rp 600,000.

According to the labor contract, the nurses will be employed
for two years and the contract can be extended as long as they
wish to live in Kuwait. They also have a right to 40 working days
of leave per year. During their employment, they are covered by a
commercial insurance scheme, to provide them certainty and
protection, should they get into trouble. Their transportation
costs in both directions are covered by the Kuwaiti government.

Saleh Alwaini, president of PT Binawan Inti Utama, which
supplies workers to Kuwait, hailed the migrant skilled workers,
saying it was the fifth batch of nurses exported to Kuwait.

Seen from a business point of view, the sending of skilled
workers for employment in the formal sector secures greater
advantages than for those in the informal sector.

"The nurses will face fewer risks than workers employed as
domestic helpers, because besides being employed in groups, they
will be more capable of protecting themselves in dealing with
trouble, and industrial relations matters have already been
covered in their contracts," he said, adding that Binawan had
supplied a total of 770 workers to Kuwait over the last three
years.

The nurses were obliged to pay about $150 per month from their
monthly salary for a year to cover the cost of their six-month
predeparture training. "Our company spends around Rp 10 million
per person to finance their training for six months at many
hospitals in Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung and other cities in
Indonesia," he said.

Saleh acknowledged that it was difficult to find nurses and
other workers with skills to international standards, but it was
more profitable to export professionals.

"The 153 workers are part of more than 400 nurses who applied
for overseas employment, most of whom did not pass a number of
tests carried out directly by a Kuwaiti team. It is somewhat
ironic that the nurses, who had graduated from nursing academies
and universities, were unable to pass the tests, although they
have already had two years of work experience and had undergone
six months of special training," he said.

Of more than one million Indonesians workers employed
overseas, only 12 percent, or 120,000, have expertise of any
kind.

Saleh said that his company had enhanced its cooperation with
a number of hospitals at home to provide skilled health workers
to meet increasing overseas demands.

Binawan is training hundreds of other nurses to be sent to the
Middle East and Europe, especially Germany and the Netherlands.

Minister Jacob acknowledged that many Middle Eastern and
European countries required more medical workers from Indonesia,
but the increased demand could not be met because of the low
quality of human resources in the country.

"We have a great number of job opportunities for skilled
workers in the finance, IT, computer technology and health
sectors overseas but cannot fill them because of the low quality
of the workforce and of education in the country," he said.

He called on relevant agencies and education bodies in the
country to play a more active role in improving the quality of
education and for their graduates to make the workforce more
competitive in the foreign labor market.

"We can no longer move in slow motion because in entering the
global economy, Indonesia must be able to compete with ASEAN
countries in liberalizing the labor market in accordance with the
ASEAN free trade area (AFTA) this year and with GATT-based world
trade with other densely populated countries, such as China and
India, in the global market," he said.

Indonesian workers had to go global to improve their social
welfare, improve the country's foreign exchange earned from
workers overseas and help cope with the serious unemployment
problem at home, he said.