Binamandiri accredited “A” by Ministry office

Dated 11 June 2010 at Tridarma Auditorium Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration – Jakarta, Binamandiri received Accreditation Certificate from new organization under Indonesian Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, called Accreditation Institution for Training Centre (LKPP), lead by DR. Acep Hidayat, MM

Only 58 Indonesian recruitment companies were chosen to be accredited among 600s companies, as pilot project by Ministry Office and 10 of them were from East Java.

There are nine aspects were evaluated by LKPP, thus are :
• Safety ness
• Work Program
• Teaching Program
• Facility
• Dormitory
• Legal Aspect
• Organization
• Curriculum
• Future Development

LKPP ranks the companies/training centres in A, B or C, where A is Best and certificate valid for 4 years; B is Good and certificate valid for 3 years; C is Average and certificate only valid for 2 years.
On the ceremony, DR. Acep Hidayat didn’t mention specifically the total ranks from 58 companies/training centers, but from 10 Indonesian manpower agencies/training center in East Java, 5 of them receive “A” Score including Binamandiri.

The accreditation completes Binamandiri achievement where previously in February 2007, National Board of Placement and Protection Indonesia Workers Overseas (BNP2TKI), another government institution deals with Overseas Workers, also accredited ‘A’ for Binamandiri along with 11 other companies from total 657 companies were accredited throughout Indonesia.

The Accreditation Certificate is not a simply gift rather than a challenge for Binamandiri to keep up and maintain the achievement that has been given as the competition in Placement Business becomes tighter every day.

Minister to Legalize Worker Scalper

Caricature is copyright of Wahyu Kokkang, first published Jawa Pos 3 June 2010

A stunning and controversial decision has been made by Muhaimin Iskandar, Indonesian Minister of Manpower and Transmigration, in front of Indonesian Senator Forum on 3rd June 2010 that he will legalize worker scalper.

He claimed that the number of illegal placement conducted by unprocedure placement and worker scalper is far bigger than the number of legal placement registered in Ministry office. It almost reaches twice of the legal placement.
This so called Worker Scalper or Sponsor, provides services without any standard towards Indonesian Manpower Agencies which resulted high recruitment fee and eventually will increase worker’s salary deduction to unreasonable level.
By legalizing the worker scalper or sponsor, hopefully the government can keep them in order; provide training regarding basic knowledge in handling and recruiting for overseas placement.

It seems a very desperate and out of idea measurement by the minister, to issue such decision.
With around 700 Indonesian Manpower Agencies currently supervised by Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration office, it just becomes a new burden for his office to add ten thousand figures of scalpers to be supervised.

Rather than creating new work for his ministry office, there are others current and more important things can be done, which Muhaimin should focus on, so that the illegal placement can be minimize, such as :

1. How to end the dispute between his office and BNP2TKI and start to get along and work together to synchronize and increase the efforts to minimize illegal placement.
2. Start to revitalization Provincial and District Department of Manpower offices, so that people can start to trust and make Department of Manpower offices as a reference to get a job using legal procedure rather than using scalper whom currently people trust them although they are crook.
3. Create Centralize Database and online system of jobseeker, so that Indonesian Manpower agency can easily recruit the candidate and minimize the use of scalper which commonly use nowadays and increase the placement fee for the candidates. ILO recently established pilot project of Job seeker database in Pasuruan Regency, this kind of opportunity should be pro-actively grabbed by ministry office to establish in more location and link them together.
4. Applied the regulation no.39/2004 of Placement and Protection Indonesian workers overseas, seriously and firmly. Until now, regulation no.39/2004 just a scrap of papers that doesn’t have a teeth. None of Indonesian manpower agencies nor individuals who conduct the illegal placement have been brought to justice. Normally everything cleared out with out of court settlement where’s money talks, thus won’t bring any leery effects. Not necessary to create or amend the regulation where it just wasting money, if the same effort has been done to uphold it. Just try to strictly apply it first.
5. The Minister should READ and UNDERSTAND the regulation no.39/2004 first, before make a decision. There isn’t any single word mentioning scalper is part of the placement process. The decision just creates blunders and new bureaucracy to the process and certainly will legalize the high cost of placement towards the workers

Well at least the decision to legalize workers scalper will bring new ten thousand formal jobs for Indonesia, as the caricature said, “Don’t be envy, I got new jobs as Workers scalpers and it is written in my ID card”