S Arabia Wishes For RI Skilled Manpower

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Saudi Arabian ambassador to Indonesia Abdurrachman Al-Khaiyat said his country wished Indonesia to send skilled workers and stopped sending domestic helpers (TKIs).

"We wish for skilled people like nurses, technicians and people of other skills," ambassador Abdurrachman who is returning to his country at the end of this month following a 5-year term said during a farewell dinner party with the press at his home in Jakarta Saturday night.

He said opportunities for such people in Saudi Arabia have been filled by among others Filipinos.

The number of TKIs and their problems could therefore be substantially reduced.

In the meantime, National Agency for Protection and Placement of Indonesian Workers Overseas (BNP2TKI) chief Mohammad Jumhur Hidayat said Indonesia was still facing many problems with its workers, including workers protection and lack of skill.

Other problems are the lack of coordination with the relevant government institutions.

In this connection deliberations on the MoU on TKIs between the Indonesian and Saudi governments lacked progress in Jakarta on Nov 11 in a bilateral meeting between manpower and transmigration minister  Muhaimin Iskandar and Saudi Arabian labor minister Muhammad Fakieh.

The two are still studying two draft agreements, but still no result has been achieved, Minister Muhaimin said.

Earlier the two countries signed a statement of intent (SoI) on May 28, 2011, on insurance-based protection.

Official data of the manpower  and transmigration ministry said that there are now 948,652 TKIs in Saudi Arabia with an actual number of more than 1 million.

The placement of TKIs there had been stopped since August 1,  2011 following cases of their torture. The government is now trying to improve their dispatch including training for at least  200 hours before their departure.(*)