Kalla Asks For Immediate End To Sending House Maids Abroad

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Vice President Jusuf Kalla asked for immediate end of sending house maids  and untrained workers abroad.

Instead Kalla asked the manpower ministry to concentrate on opening more training facility to turn out more skilled and professional workers  to be sent abroad.

"The time when we supply house maids to work abroad must be ended immediately . In fact it is no longer interesting," the vice president said addressing a meeting with the labor minister M Hanif Dhakiri  and officials of the ministry here on Thursday.

He said Indonesia started sending housemaids abroad 20 years ago when the pay for a house maid was much lower in Indonesia compared with in other countries such as Middle East.

At that time the pay for a house maid was four time higher in Malaysia  and Saudi Arabia , but now the difference is no longer that high, he said.

In addition working as house maid in Saudi Arabia would not be as convenient culturally as in Indonesia, he said.

In Saudi Arabia a housemaid is forced to stay at home  and rarely allowed to go out , he said, adding in Indonesia they have greater freedom.

"Therefore, the policy  and regulation sending house maids abroad  should be stopped  immediately," he repeated.

On that occasion the vice president also asked for the abolition of regulations that would discourage foreign investors  from doing business in the country.

He said regulation that requiring expatriates in the country to master the Indonesian language was among the regulations that have to be abolished.

 "It is not easy for expatriate to learn Bahasa Indonesia. Don't force them to spend long time to learn the language," he said..

The labor minister already abolished the regulation.

Kalla dismissed fear of foreign workers coming in flock to Indonesia after the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community.

"The pay of workers in Indonesia is small. No workers from Singapore or Malaysia would want to work in Indonesia with a monthly pay of around Rp2 million, when they could get around Rp10 million at home," he said.

Under AEC to be effective in December this year there would be no border barrier for job seekers among the ten member countries.

Many cases of maltreatment of Indonesian workers abroad have prompted call for an end to sending untrained workers abroad. (WDY)