| BY Andi Abdussalam |
Jakarta, Oct 12 (ANTARA) - Exporter countries of ASEAN migrant workers were glad when ASEAN delegates agreed at the opening of their meeting in Semarang, Central Java, on Sunday, to discuss migrant workers' protection and promotions of their rights. Yet, the ASEAN Social Cultural Community (ASCC) at its meeting which lasted from October 9 to 11, 2011 failed again to discuss the issue which had been on deadlock since 2009. "It has not yet been discussed in the conference this time. It is expected to be discussed in the next ASCC meeting," Chief Minister for People's Welfare Agung Laksono said on Monday referring to the results of the ASCC talks which will be taken to the ASEAN summit for endorsement in Bali next month. On the first day of the Senior Officials Committee for ASCC (SOCA) delegates were reported to have met in mind on the deliberations of the ASEAN migrant workers' protection and rights promotions. "This is an extra-ordinary achievement because we have agreed to discuss the issue which had been on deadlock since 2009. There is a positive development where talks on migrant workers' protection and promotions of their rights will be continued," Nina Sardjunani, the Indonesian chief delegate to the ASCC conference said last weekend. Nina said that the agreement to take up the issue in the conference was reached after a tough debate because both migrant workers exporters and importers had different opinions. The exporter countries are Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Myanmar while the importer ones are Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam. "The debates were tough because we discussed not only documented migrant workers but also those undocumented ones. But then we agreed that there had been a positive development," Nina said. According to Rizki Safary, a member of the Indonesian delegation to the ASCC meeting, exporter countries wanted equal protection and right promotions between documented and undocumented migrant workers. What is encouraging is the fact that the meeting on the issue was not attended by only four countries such as in the previous meeting but 10 ASEAN member countries which agreed to discuss the important issue, Rizki said. However, Chief Welfare Minister Agung Laksono ascertained in the run-up to the end of the conference that the migrant workers' issue was not discussed but put off until the next ASCC meeting. "It will be discussed in the ASCC conference," the minister said on Monday. He said that the delegates failed to carry out their agreement to discuss the issue. "The matter will be discussed in the next meeting because delegates did not agree to it now," the minister said. Agung said that there was no agreement yet between exporter countries and importer states. Indonesia hoped that documented and undocumented workers should not receive different treatment. However, this proposal was not accepted by importer countries. With the failure of the talks on migrant workers' protection and rights promotion, it is almost certain that the issue would not be taken to the summit of the Association of South East Asian Nation (ASEAN) in Bali next month. Virtually, the other issue regarding ASEAN migrant workers concerns the free flow of manpower within the region in connection with its plan to establish an integrated economic community in 2015. Indonesia last May called on the 18th ASEAN Summit in Jakarta to discuss the need for ASEAN countries to open up to migrant workers from within the region. "Migrant workers in ASEAN or ASEAN migrant workers who are outside the region need protection. ASEAN countries also need to open themselves to migrant workers from other member countries such as Indonesia," head of the National Agency for Placement and Protection of TKIs Abroad (BNP2TKI), Moh Jumhur Hidayat said. The Indonesian manpower official made the statements in response to the fact that so far only three ASEAN members had recruited Indonesian migrant workers (TKIs), namely Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam. "I have often received complaints from employers in a number of ASEAN member countries who need TKIs but they would either not allow it or impose too tight regulations so that they could receive migrant workers from Indonesia," Jumhur Hidayat said. Data on the placement of Indonesian migrant workers in the Asia Pacific region in 2010 indicated that there were only three countries which had accepted TKIs. He said that the Indonesian government was launching intensive promotions of its formal workers in various countries in Europe, Australia, the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea and others. "Japan and countries in the Middle East are main destinations for Indonesian migrant nursery workers. They admitted that the Indonesian nurses have good skills. Demand for Indonesian nurses from these countries continues to increase every year," the BNP2TKIS chief said.***4*** |
Rabu, 12 Oktober 2011
TALKS ON RIGHTS OF ASEAN WORKERS PROCEEDING AT SNAIL-PACE
SHOOTING AT FREEPORT MUST BE INVESTIGATED
| By Andi Abdussalam |
Jakarta, Oct 11 (ANTARA) - The shooting incident during a clash between demonstrating PT Freeport workers and patrolling police in Mimika, Papua, that claimed the lives of one Freeport worker and one police on Monday should be investigated. "The police chief should make an immediate effort to investigate thoroughly the shooting incident and violence that occurred on October 10, 2011," Coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) Haris Azhar said. One of the demonstrating workers and one police officer were killed in the clash between gun-shooting police and rock-throwing demonstrators. It was reported that demonstrating workers, who tried to prevent other workers from going to work at the terminal, demanded that the management should temporarily stop its operation until the strike case is solved and demand for employee salary increase met. The management of Freeport regretted the occurrence of the incident. "We learned that a group of workers who were holding a rally and other individuals were marching from the office of All Indonesian Workers Unions (SPSI) for Freeport to the Timika bus terminal to disturb the departure of PT Freeport's employee buses who want to return to work," PT Freeport Spokesman Ramdani Sirait said. According to Ramdani, the demonstrating workers forced their way into the terminal but police blocked their access that caused the group to act aggressively. Haris Azhar said that Kontras urged Police Chief Timur Pradopo to investigate the clashes between Freeport workers and police, and criticized the shooting of the Freeport workers who were trying to hold negotiations with PT Freeport management. According to the non-governmental organization, the workers held the rally on Monday in protest against the management policy which recruited new workers to replace those who were holding demonstrations. Freeport workers have been on strike since September 15, 2011 to demand for an increase in their salary, asking the management to agree with a new wage system in a new joint labor agreement (PKB). Kontras was of the view that the shooting and violence constituted an intervention and threat by police to the industrial relations dispute which was protected by Law No. 13/ 2003 on manpower affairs. Kontras said that the government, particularly the ministry of manpower should play a role in ensuring the basic rights of workers based on the law, including their rights to stage a strike based on article 137 of the law. In the meantime, Manpower Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said his ministry had tried to mediate the workers problem with the management of PT Freeport.. "We will continue to provide assistance in overcoming problems at Freeport from the manpower aspect by involving negotiators between the workers union and the company's management. We hope that the industrial relations dispute would soon be settled, and would no longer claim another victims," the minister said. The minister said that the government has tried to mediate the workers union and the management to negotiate workers' demand in their joint labor agreement (PKB). He said that the two sides had met three times at the office of manpower minister to discuss their dispute. "The tree-time mediation was not yet able to bring them into an agreement so that the case was taken to the industrial relations court," the minister said. In that way, the minister said, the industrial relations dispute would be overcome and all parties involved would restrain and seek for the best solution without using violence that would even disadvantage all parties. The labor dispute at Freeport began with differences between workers and the management over the wage system to be included in the new PKB. The differences appeared during negotiations to draw up a new KPB for the 2011 - 2013 period. The negotiations on the PKB lasted for 30 days from July 20 to August 19, 2011, which were later extended by seven days until August 26, 2011. But because the workers union and the management failed to reach an agreement, the government fielded a tripartite plus team composing of representatives from the government (ministries of law, manpower, energy and mineral resources and police) businessmen (national executives of Apindo) and workers to have direct dialogs with the representatives of workers. In the meantime, Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa hoped that Monday's incident at PT Freeport would not escalate and a solution would be found so that the problem would be settled. "I hope Freeport would settle it well through negotiations with workers. The solution, namely win-win solution, should be found," the coordinating minister for economic affairs said. Hatta said that if the problem protracted it would cause losses to the company, workers and the country as a whole. "If not settled well it would cause more losses to the company, workers and Indonesia," the minister said. Therefore, Manpower Minister Muhaimin Iskandar is sending a special team to Timikia, Papua to carry out persuasive approaches and to help defuse tension at PT Freeport. "We are sending a team to Freeport to help overcome the problem there. The team is in charge of seeking solutions to the problem in the manpower aspect. The aspects that are related to the legal and political aspects will be handled by police," Muhaimin Iskandar said here on Tuesday. The minister said that the team was sent to the field especially to slacken tension and to calm down workers and to coordinate with the local manpower service and other related parties.***3*** |
Selasa, 11 Oktober 2011
INDONESIA, SLOVAKIA STEPPING UP ECONOMIC COOPERATION
| by Andi Abdussalam |
Jakarta, Oct 11 (ANTARA) - Amid its efforts to develop economic potentials through a master plan for the acceleration and expansion of its economic development, Indonesia is offering cooperation in various economic sectors to Slovakia. So far, no Slovakian companies have made investment in Indonesia while the value of the two-way trade between the two countries is still less than US$100 million. Thus the conclusion of agreements worth US$1 billion on Tuesday between the private companies of both nations was a breakthrough in the economic relations of the two countries. The economic cooperation between the two countries private sectors was concluded on sidelines of the visit to Indonesia of Slovakian President Ivan Gasparovic who took with him private company leaders to explore cooperation with their Indonesian partners. The cooperation agreements between the private companies of the two countries are expected to be signed during a Slovakia-Indonesia Business Forum at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel here on Tuesday. One of the important sectors of cooperation between a Slovakian firm and the Andalas University in West Sumatra was the development of wheat plantation in Indonesia, he said. Hatta said that no Slovakian companies had previously made investment in Indonesia so that the conclusion of 11 agreements that would be signed on Tuesday was a breakthrough. The chief economic minister said that the value of the two way trade between the two countries was still small, namely less than US$100 million. He said that one of the reason of the Slovakian president to visit Indonesia with a business delegation was that he was interested in the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia's Economic Development. Besides, the private companies of the two countries would also cooperate in the development of a tire factory in Tangerang, Banten and power plants in West Nusa Tenggara and Batam. "In essence, we are encouraging the private sectors of the two countries to make use of the opportunities in Indonesia and in Slovakia," the president said. In the meantime, state-owned Bank BNI also concluded a cooperation with its Slovakian counterpart Eimbanka SR in order to support and facilitate trade activities between the two countries. "This cooperation is very strategic because the trade balance between two counties has begun to increase significantly every year. The potentials of financial transactions between the two counties are quite big," Bank BNI President Director said after signing the cooperation on Tuesday. The cooperation also give a chance to the state-owned bank to expand its business in Easter Europe. The MoU was signed between BNI President Director Gatot M Suwondo and Eximbanka SR General Director Mario Schrenkel, witnessed by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affiars Hatta Rajasa. Gatot said that the cooperation between BNI and Eximbaka SR covered various aspects such as co-financing, co-insurance, reinsurance of export credit risk, assistance in the management of non-performing loan, exchange of information in goods and service trade. "The cooperation between Eximbanka SR and BNI provides an opportunity to expand its business to Eastern Europe, in Slovakia in particular. This also gives a chance to BNI customers to expand their business to the Western European market and the United States," he said. The cooperation between BNI and Eximbanka SR was reached after the government of Indonesia and Slovakia agreed to increase cooperation in the economic fields. For this cooperation, Indonesia offers nine proposals or cooperation agenda to increase bilateral cooperation of the two countries. Of the nine agenda is the cooperation in the field of banking for the interest of trade financing. So far, Indonesia and Slovakia have established cooperation through their central banks to support the increasing transactions and cooperation in the economic fields of the two countries. The current visit of the Slovakian president with a delegation of private company leaders is expected to further enhance economic cooperation between the two countries. The Sovakian president?s visit has been planned since early this year when the two countries held a meeting in Indonesia, namely in Jakarta and Surabaya, last February. During the meeting, Indonesia and Slovakia reached an agreement that would provide legal certainty for investment cooperation between the two countries. The agreement would replace an old one made in 1994 to meet one of the provisions regarding investment policy within the European Union. Indonesia and Slovakia have economic cooperation potential which has yet to be worked out optimally after the latter joined the European Union in May 2004. |
Minggu, 09 Oktober 2011
MONAS OFFERS FRESH AIR, NICE SCENES FOR VISITORS
| By Andi Abdussalam |
Jakarta, Oct 8 (ANTARA) - You Need a track for jogging, a park for picnicking, a culinary center for eating or even a shady tree with benches for a leisure romance? Just visit the National Monument (Monas) square in Central Jakarta. "The Monas square is a place which provides answers for different visitors with different purposes -- people who want to have an exercise, hunt money, feed deer, check health or even defecate in a mobile toilet," Roshad (40), a cleaning service worker at the park said. That's why in a Sunday morning before sunrise, hundreds of 'hunters' began flocking into the 80-hectare square in Central Jakarta where the towering, 132-meter-high National Monument (Monas) stands firmly. However, those visitors did not come to the Monas square to hunt deers or birds in a city forest park inside the square. They mostly came there to 'hunt' for wellness, exercises, or even money. "I came here to go jogging. My doctor asked me to take an exercise because I have a high cholesterol level. It took me 10 to 15 minutes to walk around the monument for one round. I have finished four rounds in about one hour," an old chap said. Jogging is not the only exercise that you can take to regain your healthy condition in the Monas square. For those who are still young, they can bring a ball and play 'soccer' at a number mini football fields, including futsal fields, at certain corners of Monas. On that Sunday morning, some parents looked amazed to watch their children flying kites in the park while others hired bicycles and pedaled around the square. In a number of corners inside the Monas square, you can hire a bicycle. So don't bother taking bicycle onto your car if you want to have a picnic or an exercise in Monas. There are many on street bike rentals there. There, different kinds of bikes are on "temporary sale". The tariff varies. "A bicycle of two pedals costs Rp20,000 per 30 minutes and three pedals Rp25,000," said Mamat who rents bikes in the Monas area. If you come to Monas alone, and get lazy to take a walk or go jogging, just watch or even join certain groups of community who have different kinds of exercises such as laughing or breathing exercises. There are many kinds of breathing exercise groups, like tai chi, chikung, or even reiki, where participants try to synchronize the slow movements of their bodies to the tune of music, or even no movement at all. If you do not like tranquility type of exercises, you can still find a group of community, who take laughter as the subject of their exercise. Laughing that force your abdomen to contract can reduce different health complaints such as blood pressure, high cholesterol and many others. Instructors skilfully will tell you a story that will make you helpless but laughing hysterically. This community members during practice take several positions such as standing, sitting and lying while instructors in each stage tell a story that will tickle your stomach. Sometimes, when this group of community takes its exercise at the Monas square, the number of on-lookers is larger and they laugh even louder than the community members. If you laugh so helplessly that you feel you want to piss or defecate, don't worry, in different directions of the monument you can easily find a mobile toilet that are ready to 'receive' and keep your 'waste'. Visitors who are reluctant to take part in the laughing 'session' can have another method to regain health. They can simply get a stroll in a special walkway under shady trees in a park in the southern section of the monument square. But here, visitors usually grimace while walking along the path. They grin not because they are pinched by lovers but because corral stones perform their task to massage their feet. It is a reflexology walkway, adorned with coral stones designed to massage visitors, just adjacent to the city forest park (also inside the Monas square) where a group of deer would welcome visitors to ask for different 'meals'. The deer park is an interesting place for those who come for a picnic, particularly children because the deer is tame, some even approach the fence to ask for foods. That is Monas, a place for different purposes, not to mention its function as a place for different official ceremonies, rallies and a destination of study tours. Built in three phases since 1961 and completed in 1976, Monas which is topped with a flame of 14.5 tons of bronze covered with 50 kg of gold foil, symbolizes the fight for Indonesia's independence. Feeling not well after taking an exercise? There are many medical students from various universities who offer their services. You can check your blood pressure, the levels of your cholesterol, gout, glucose and others. They will charge you Rp20,000 for a cholesterol test, Rp5,000 for blood pressure and Rp10,000 for gout. Hungry, thirty or need a souvenir? hundreds of hawkers and other street vendors also flock to the square to 'hunt' money and offer different kinds of souvenirs, cakes, food and drink. Some hawk their merchandise and some others simply put mats and their goods on the pavement. Food stalls and souvenir shops are found in the southern part of the Monas square, just side-by-side with the parking lot. So before you drive back to your home or cities, just try your foods in the culinary center or buy souvenirs in the shops.***5*** |
Sabtu, 08 Oktober 2011
SEA GAMES XXVI ALSO BOON FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
| By Andi Abdussalam |
Jakarta, Oct 8 (ANTARA) - Realizing that the South East Asian Games (SEA Games) in Indonesia next November is also a potential market for small-scale enterprises, the games' organizing committee has offered to cooperate with them for mutual benefit. Indonesia is making preparations to host the 26th Southeast Asian Gemas (SEA Games) where 10 countries from the region are expected to compete in 44 sports branches and vie for the 454 gold medals at stake from November 11 to 22, 2011. The Indonesia SEA Games Organizing Committee (Inasoc) and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) therefore agreed to cooperate in order to popularize the sports events and promote small businesses in the country "We hope to reap a profit of Rp50 billion from the sale of souvenirs throughout Indonesia. In Jakarta and Palembang, we hope the two hosts will earn Rp10 billion respectively," Iman Arif, Kadin chairman for sports development said. He said that the souvenirs would be offered to state firms, hotels, tourist regions and the Kadin offices in the country's 33 provinces. "In this cooperation, we are determined to play active roles in facilitating and opening communications with all stakeholders of the national sports," said Iman. According to Ira Hermawan Bagus of Inasoc at least 10 small firms in Jakarta, Bogor and Bandung were now in cooperation in the production of at least 20 types of souvenirs such as shirts, hats, bags and key holders. Iman said that Indonesia should develop its sports industry potentials during the SEA Games events because Indonesia's position as host was beneficial. Besides souvenirs, cooperation will also be carried out in the form of cultural activities such as a torch relay event. Ibas, as Edhie Baskoro intimately called, said Kadin hoped the SEA Games would be able to generate the national economic development, particularly the development of economy in the regions. "This is not only a matter of sports, the SEA Games event is an opportunity to develop other economic sectors like services industry, accommodation, restaurants and entertainment," Ibas said. In the meantime, Inasoc Chairperson Rita Subowo said the success of the SEA Games would be measured with the empowerment of handicraftsmen in the production of souvenirs. "We need promotion through the sales of souvenirs. That was why we asked Kadin to disseminate the souvenirs to 33 provinces in the country," Rita said. Besides souvenirs, Kadin and the Inasoc will also hold cultural nights in eight cities during the torch relay procession. The eight cities that will host the cultural nights are Purwodadi and Magelang (Borobudur) , Semarang , Kupang , Jayapura , Makassar , Balikpapan , Jakarta and Palembang. The SEA Games will be held in Jakarta and Palembang, South Sumatra. South Sumatra's Industry and Trade Service official said the establishment of bazaar stands at the SEA Games' athlete home. "We are proposing the establishment of a bazaar stand within the complex of the SEA Games athletes," Head of South Sumatra?s Industry and Trade Service Eppy Mirza. The stands are to be designed for athletes staying the athlete complex so that they could shop there. He said, in conjunction with the SEA Games, there would be exhibitions at hotels in Jakabaring. The Sriwijaya International Expo would accommodate a total of 500 stands to be occupied by participants from ASEAN and other countries which were invited. It had the target to be visited by 30 thousand visitors. Each visitor was expected to spend Rp1 million for meals and souvenirs. SEA Games XXV in Vientiane, Laos, was also used as an opportunity for small businesses to sell their goods. Just outside the venues there were stands selling shirts and other souvenirs. SEA Games XXVI in Indonesia next November will be held in Jakarta and Palembang. Palembang will host 21 sports branches while the other branches will played out in Jakarta. SEA Games XXVI will be comprised of the following 44 sport branches 1.Aquatics, 2. Archery, 3. Athletics, 4. Badminton, 5. Baseball, 6. Basketball, 7. Billiards & Snooker, 8. Bowling, 9. Boxing, 10. Bridge, 11. Canoeing, 12. Chess, 13. Cycling, 14. Equestrian, 15. Fencing, 16. Fin Swimming, 17. Football, 18. Futsal, 19. Golf, 20. Gymnastics, 21. Judo, 22. Karate, 23. Paragliding, 24. Pencak Silat, 25. Petanque, 26. Roller Sports, 27. Rowing, 28. Sailing, 29. Sepaktakraw, 30. Shorinji Kempo, 31. Shooting, 32. Softball, 33. Soft Tennis, 34. Table Tennis, 35. Taekwondo, 36. Tennis, 37. Traditional Boat Race, 38. Volleyball, 39. Vovinam, 40. Wall Climbing ,41. Water Ski, 42. Weightlifting, 43. Wrestling, and 44. Wushu.***6*** |
MORE LAND NEEDED TO ACHIEVE FOOD PRODUCTION SURPLUS
| by Andi Abdussalam |
Jakarta, Oct 8 (ANTARA) - Indonesia which aspires to enjoy a 10-million-ton of food production surplus in the near future needs to maximize the cultivation of its idle lands with food crops. According to Agriculture Minister Suswono, Indonesia needs to open new farm lands in order to achieve its 10-million-ton food surplus target as ordered by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. "Actually, it is easy for us to achieve the surplus target if it is only rice but if it includes other commodities such as sugar, soybean or maize, we will need more agricultural lands," the minister said on Friday. Suswono's statement reaffirmed the government's previous commitment to continuously boost its annual rice and other crops production so that its food self-sufficiency target would be achieved in 2014. "For soybean alone we will need 500 thousand hectares of new land while for sugar we will need at least 350 thousand hectares," he said. Soybean production in 2011 is estimated to reach only 819,450 tons down 9.66 percent from last year's. In term of rice, there has been an increasing trend in production. The Central Board of Statistics (BPS) has predicted that rice production this year is expected to increase. "There will be an increase of 2.4 percent," the agency's chief, Rusman Heriyawan, said recently. Regarding sugar, the country's need for industry and consumption is estimated at five million tons while production of the country's 60 sugar factories is only about 2.7 million. Indonesia's sugarcane plantations at present cover about 480,148 hectares. Virtually, Indonesia still has vast land that could be developed to achieve the country's food production goals. Based on the results of a survey, the country now has around 7.3 million hectares of idle land, the minister said. Nearly 2 million hectares of the land could be used as farm including sugarcane plantation, he said. The agriculture minister has said earlier that the government had begun the development of new agricultural land in Indonesia in an effort to increase food crop production. "For agriculture land, we have started to developed one in Bulungan district, in East Kalimantan," the minister said on Wednesday. Apart from that the ministry of agriculture has also continued to support the development of new agricultural land outside Java, which cover Aceh, Riau and West Kalimantan. The Farmers-Fishermen Joint Organization (KTNA) in a hearing with House Commission IV on agriculture last May predicted that the acreage of Indonesia's rice fields at present was estimated at 13.6 million hectares. With an estimated number of population at 237 million, the average per capita rice field is about 500 meters. This only accounts for about 50 percent of the average per capita rice farm in Vietnam which reaches 1,000 meters. While trying to expand the agricultural land, the government is also trying to diversify food crops so that other foods especially local foods would replace rice as a staple for the people. "We are conducting studies whether local foods can replace rice as staple one. We hope these studies would have been completed this very year," Head of Food Resilience Affairs of the Ministry of Agriculture Achmad Suryana said recently. Though there are many kinds of local foods that can become alternative staples, yet rice for many people is a must. This because rice has become a staple for all classes in Indonesia. Achmad Suryana hoped that the study on the possibility of changing rice with other local foods would be completed this very year and be reported to the office of the chief economic minister and the minister for people's welfare. In order to implement the plan, the government will incorporate it with its 'raskin' program, a scheme where the government distributes cheap rice for poor families in the country. The on-going government's rice for the poor (raskin) program may next year include allocation of local foods instead of merely rice. In line with its raskin program, the government is studying the utilization of non-rice food stuff, or local foods to be included in the raskin program. It is expected to include cassava, maize, sago and tuber that have become the staples of the local people. Thus the 'raskin' (rice for the poor) program will change into 'pangkin' (food for the poor) scheme. This program will include in the first stage the extension of food packages to poor families which are composed of 10 kg rice and 5 kg local foods (such as cassava, sago, maize, corn, tuber or other local foods). In the second year, the portion of rice in the 'pangkin' packages will be reduced to 5 kg while local foods will be increased to 10 kg. And in the second year, the pankin packages will 100 percent be composed of 15 kg local foods. Local foods in Indonesia vary, including a number of starchy tubers and maize. Cassava and dried cassava, locally known as tiwul, is an alternate staple food in arid areas of Java such as Gunung Kidul and Wonogiri, while other roots and tubers are eaten especially in hard times. Maize is eaten in drier regions such as Madura and the Lesser Sunda Islands. A sago congee called Papeda is a staple food especially in Maluku and Papua.***5*** |
Jumat, 07 Oktober 2011
NEW DECREE TO TIGHTEN RATTAN EXPORT RESTRICTIONS
| By Andi Abdussalam |
Jakarta, Oct 7 (ANTARA) - The government is continuing to tighten its raw rattan export restrictions so as to guarantee the availability of raw materials for domestic rattan-based industries but the policy has drawn complaints from rattan farmers. Trade Minister's Decree No. 36/ 2009 which rattan farmers consider to have failed to bridge the gap between the different interests of farmers and rattan furniture industries will expire next week. The government will issue a new decree on rattan exports but it appears it will be not different in substance from the previous one, even through the government wants to further tighten raw rattan exports. Rattan farmers have complained about the government policy so far because it reduced their rattan exports while their stocks at home, they said, were sometimes not absorbed by local industries. Last year, Lisman Sumardjani, chairman of the Indonesian Rattan Business Foundation (YRI) said that the export restriction was actually also restricting the farmers' rattan because they could not sell their products to furniture industries which were not required to purchase the farmers' rattan. Trade Minister's Decree No. 36/ 2009 on rattan export restrictions did not bridge the interest between farmers and rattan furniture industries, he said. Now, the government will issue a new regulation on rattan export to substitute a previous trade minister's decree which will expire next October 11, yet it seems that it will further tighten its restriction on rattan exports. That is because according to Director General Deddy, the new regulation is in essence the extension of the previous trade minister's decree, which will protect industry at home. He said that the government would issue rattan export licenses only if there was a guarantee on the availability of stocks that could meet the need for the commodity of industry at home. "We will not issue export licenses if the need of local industry for raw rattan could not be met due to lack of stocks. So, it will depend on the need at home. If rattan could be absorbed at home, there is no need to export it," the director general said. Deddy said that in the new regulation the government would tighten provisions on the issuance of rattan export licenses. He said that based on the trade minister's decree No.36/2009, registered rattan exporters (ETR) could be granted rattan export approvals for the exportation of "washed and sulphurized (W/S) and semi-finished rattan, particularly rattan of the Taman/Sega and Irit types. Rattan exporters of this type can get approvals only by enclosing documents (proof) on their rattan stocks, production capacity (for those who have never get export license /SPE) and export performance for at least three month (for those who have owned SPE). Approvals are also given to exporters of semi-finished rattan, which is not of the Taman/Sega and Irit types. In this case, they have to enclose documents ( to prove) that they have supplied raw rattan to domestic producers of finished rattan goods for three months, and recommendations from the directorate general of forestry production development of the ministry of forestry. In the new regulation, according to Deddy, besides the requirements above, registered exporters are also required to enclose sales tax notices that have been endorsed by surveyors at ports of shipment and destinations. He said that the tightening was to be imposed because there was evidence of practices that manipulated data on their supplies to industries. The government is also considering a proposal on the establishment of a body which will manage rattan buffer stocks to ensure the availability of raw materials for domestic industry. Yet, he said, provisions on the buffer stocks and the body which would manage them could not yet be included in the new regulation because they are still in deep discussions. "It cannot yet be included in the new regulation because we do not need rough concept but well done one which is ready to be implemented for a long period, including the body and its financing," the director general said. Earlier, several parties called on the government to revise rattan export regulations as contained in the trade minister's decree No. 36/ 2009. Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) saw that several provisions in the decree hampered the growth of rattan exports and rattan industry, calling on the government to revise it. World demand for rattan-based furniture and rattan-made handicraft products are relatively high, where in 2008 and 2009 reached around US$100 and US$104 billion. Of the total market share, Indonesian rattan-based products could only reach 2.6 billion dollars in 2008 and 2.3 billion dollars in 2009. "This indicates that the market for rattan-based products was virtually wide open. We need to take advantage of the available market," Chairman of the Indonesian Rattan Business Foundation (YRI) Lisman Sumardjani said. He said that the absorption capacity of the domestic market for locally made rattan products was only about 30,000 - 40,000 tons this year, or about 50 percent of the country's production capacity of 696,000 tons. In a discussion on rattan trade regulation early this year, Ahmad Ramadhan Siregar of the KPPU said that the rattan regulation contained provisions on export restriction that would eliminate the economic potentials of country's rattan business. He said that the imposition of rattan export quota had caused surplus of stocks which could not be absorbed when demands of domestic industry were declining. The KPPU suggested that the government in deciding rattan export quota should refer to rattan sustainability potentials, ability of upstream industry (to provide stocks) and domestic absorption capacity based data which underwent periodic updates.***5*** |