Some 40,000 Indonesian sailors feared to lose jobs in 2001
Some 40,000 Indonesian sailors feared to lose jobs in 2001
JAKARTA (JP): As many as 40,000 Indonesian sailors could lose
their jobs next year because their skills do not meet the
standards set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO),
the minister of sea exploration and fisheries said on Monday.
However, Sarwono Kusumaatmaja said the government would
request that the IMO postpone full enforcement of the
International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification
and Watchkeeping (STCW) until 2004.
Indonesia would have to present detailed information about its
programs to comply with the convention before the end of the
year, he said, adding that failure to meet the deadline could
mean the disqualification of 40,000 sailors.
"If we can make the report we will be given until 2004 to
implement the standard completely," Sarwono said on the sidelines
of a national seminar on Indonesia Maritime 2000.
IMO requires governments to provide information concerning
administrative measures taken to ensure compliance with the
convention, education and training courses, certification
procedures and other factors relevant to implementation.
A committee consisting of the Directorate General of Sea
Transportation, the Department of Sea Exploration and Fisheries,
Department of National Education and Department of Human
Resources, would rush to compile and send the report on time,
Sarwono said.
The convention was issued by IMO -- the United Nation's agency
responsible for improving maritime safety and preventing
pollution from ships -- in 1978 and was amended in 1995.
The purpose of the convention, which was put into action by
IMO on Feb. 1, 1997, is to ensure that the education and training
of seafarers in the use of aids to navigation, ships' equipment
and devices was sufficiently comprehensive and was kept
satisfactorily up to date.
Sarwono also said that he would go to Britain and France on
Thursday for preliminary studies on technologies that could
support Monitoring Controlling Surveillance (MCS) systems which
would allow the government to keep track of all ships in
Indonesian waters.
"We want the best and most effective technology available so
we will not be at the mercy of other nations' technology," he
said.
MCS is an electronically based surveillance system that
consists of radar, satellite, and radio.
Sarwono said the government would gradually build the system
according to priority.
In the absence of an effective monitoring system, Indonesian
waters have been vulnerable to illegal fishing by foreign vessels
using dynamite which has caused the destruction of coral reefs.
"Without MCS we can only rely on patrol ships to secure our
waters," he said. (10)