Workers recruitment process poor: Legislators

Workers recruitment process poor: Legislators

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Malaysia would never have decided to halve the number of
Indonesians working in the country if the government had
exercised proper control over the worker recruitment process,
legislators say.

The poor quality of recruitment had permitted the dispatch of
less qualified migrant workers, who were prone to breaking the
law in the host country.

Speaking during a joint media conference, the legislators said
the problem had resulted from the manpower ministry's shortage of
accurate data on the workers and the problems they were facing.

"At several hearings, the manpower ministry was unable to
provide valid data. The data from the ministry was different from
what we found on the ground," Silvia Ratnawati, deputy chairwoman
of Commission VII for manpower affairs, said here on Wednesday.

Silvia, however, stopped short of specifically identifying the
data in question.

Apart from criticizing the ministry, legislators also proposed
the establishment of a team to inquire into recent incidents
involving Indonesian workers in Malaysia.

"We will form a team to get first hand information on these
cases. What really happened?" said Ambong, chairman of Commission
I for foreign affairs, here on Wednesday.

The joint media conference was held in response to the
Malaysian government's stern action against Indonesian workers
following rioting in two Malaysian cities last week.

Ambong said that the Indonesian workers, who are usually less
educated, might have fallen victim to the poor management of
workers' associations.

Despite his regrets, he suggested that the Indonesian
government try hard to stop the plan by the Malaysian government
to halve the number of Indonesians working in the neighboring
country.

Vice President Hamzah Haz and Minister of Manpower and
Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea have said they would go to Kuala
Lumpur to resolve the issue, but have yet to give a date for
their departure

Indonesian Chamber of Commerce chairman Aburizal Bakri
supported the plan to negotiate with the Malaysian authorities.

"Where will these workers be employed if they are sent home?"
Aburizal asked.

Ambong said that Indonesian government officials and
legislators could negotiate with their counterparts in the
Malaysian parliament and workers associations, as well as with
the workers themselves.

During a recent meeting with foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda
and police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, however, the legislators
were unable to obtain information on specific plans by the
government concerning the manpower issue.

Silvia added that the Malaysia-bound team would consist of
about seven legislators, who would try to uncover the root cause
of the problems in manpower affairs.

She blamed the government for not paying serious attention to
manpower affairs, claiming that most of the data provided by the
manpower ministry during a series of hearings was invalid.

As an example, Silvia revealed that many Indonesians had
pretended to perform minor pilgrimages in an attempt to get
permits to work in Arab Saudi.

"The manpower ministry knew that this was happening only after
the violence occurred," she added.

In a statement distributed to the press, Ambong and Silvia,
who are members of the Golkar faction, suggested that the
government should not comment on the issue.

They suggested that the recruitment of migrant workers should
include education about the legal system in the host country.

Silvia also suggested that the government try to find other
countries as new destinations for Indonesian migrant workers.

According to the Malaysian authorities, there are currently
around 900,000 registered Indonesian workers in the neighboring
country, but according to manpower ministry data there are only
some 568,000 Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia.

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's cabinet said Wednesday that
housemaids would be exempted from the government's current policy
of hiring Indonesians last when choosing foreign workers.

Human resources minister Fong Chan Onn said that many
Malaysian families with working mothers relied on Indonesian
housemaids, whom he said caused fewer social problems than other
Indonesian workers.

Fong said that as of December, there were 155,000 foreign
housemaids living in Malaysia. Eighty percent of them were from
Indonesia, while the rest were from the Philippines and other
countries.

Fong's comments, which came after the weekly cabinet meeting
Wednesday, were carried by the Bernama Malaysian national news
agency.