SARS leaves migrant workers waiting
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Somewhere along the midpoint of crowded Jl. Raya Condet, East Jakarta, an undistinguished, two-story building stands behind high iron fences covered in lurid green plastic. But it is more modest than other buildings, whose fences are layered with zinc sheeting, preventing passersby from looking through.
That building, plus a number of others in the street, are home to 70 manpower export companies and their shelters.
Looking more closely through the locked gate of the shelter facility of migrant worker exporter PT Surya Pasifik Jaya, dozens of young women could be observed sitting idly on the terrace under a web of lines where clothes were hanging out to dry. A man, later said to be the security guard, stood near the gate.
The women are among 11,000 Indonesian migrant workers stranded in the capital because the administration suspended their departure to a number of countries -- Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan -- affected by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which had claimed 435 lives worldwide as of last Saturday.
The companies have to foot the additional bill for the daily needs of the migrant workers until they have departed for their designated countries.
However, 31-year-old Agustina was apparently unaware of the real reason why she had to remain at the shelter for longer than she had originally expected, especially as she had obtained her KITKI (Indonesian migrant worker identity card) last month, which she needs to be able to work in Hong Kong as a nanny.
"I've been in the shelter for almost two months now. Last time I worked in Taiwan as a nanny, I didn't have to wait long before leaving. All we know is that the manpower agency has canceled all departures and we don't know when we'll be able to go," Agustina told The Jakarta Post through the fence.
When asked whether she had anticipated pneumonia-like SARS, she said the manpower export company had not said much about it and claimed that she had still to have a medical examination. "We can't get updated news from here; we're not allowed to."
Agustina, from Tulungagung district, Central Java, is the eldest daughter in her family. Still single, Agustina first worked in Saudi Arabia in 1993 as a nanny. From her salary, she claimed, she could finance her siblings' school tuition.
"I want to build a house for my parents," said Agustina, of her dreams.
Although their fate had still to be decided, none of the 47 young women in the shelter intended to return home.
Dainy, 19, from Indramayu, West Java, said she could not face her family back home without bringing any goodies with her.
"No, I don't want to go home. I've already said goodbye to everyone at home. I'll leave for Hong Kong, that's for sure. What could I say to them if I went home empty-handed?," she asked.
A different scene was observed outside Afiat Medical Center, only 300 meters away from the shelter.
A dozen women migrant workers were packing for the bus to take them home to West Java and Central Java provinces.
"We've just had our medical checks," said Rustini, in her 40s, adding that she had just returned from Malaysia. She said she had been declared healthy.
A medical center doctor, who declined to be named, said that the clinic was designed to provide medical services to migrant workers due to be sent by manpower export companies overseas, and after their return here, too.