The child labor dilemma

The Ministry of Manpower's director general for guidance and supervision, Suwarto, said during a seminar in Jakarta last Tuesday that about 2.4 million Indonesian children aged between 10 and 14 years are forced to work. This, according to the director general, is not only a labor problem, but a complicated national problem which calls for an overall solution.

The facts show that the number of child workers continues to increase each year. Studies indicate that most child workers are found in rural areas, particularly around tea and oil palm plantations. Although their number is biggest in the rural areas, the risks and demands which child workers have to face are much greater in the cities. Many urban children work 24 hours a week, for some it reaches 60 hours.

Such sad conditions directly contradict Law no.1/1950 and Ministerial Regulation No.01/1987, which state that employers are prohibited from making children work for more than four hours a day or at night, and that they must be paid wages in according to existing regulations. Because the stomach cannot wait, however, and because businesses need cheap labor, the appalling conditions prevail. Child workers are forced to accept conditions that are far beyond their capacity.

Perhaps we can all agree that every one of us, from the government down to the community, must show greater concern for our child workers as demands for the respect of human rights grow, and while we Indonesians strive to raise the quality of human resources to improve our competitive standing.

-- Suara Karya, Jakarta