Smelter Project Uses Foreign Workers, Luhut Reveals Surprising Thing: Indonesian Human Resources Are Less Skilled

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. (Photo: Doc. Kemenko Marves)

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, explained the use of foreign workers or foreign workers in many government projects, especially mining-smelters in Indonesia. According to Luhut, this is because workers in Indonesia have minimal qualifications.

As is known, so far, mining projects, especially nickel smelters in Indonesia are often associated with the rise of foreign workers from China. This has also attracted the attention of many parties.

Furthermore, Luhut said that the use of foreign workers so far has been adjusted to the needs. According to Luhut, there are many sectors whose skills have not been mastered by Indonesian human resources (HR). Because no one meets the qualifications of industry needs, the position is filled by foreign workers.

"Indeed, there were a lot of criticisms at first for not using Indonesian workers. There really wasn't any", he said in a virtual discussion, Wednesday, November 16.

According to Luhut, the absence of Indonesian workers who meet the industrial classification occurs because of the lack of attention to vocational education in Indonesia. So that many local workers cannot be accommodated because they are not skilled.

"For decades we have never paid attention to the construction of quality polytechnics in these areas. Even worse, after we made the polytechnics, no one graduated from the local area. Why? Yes, the high school graduates are 7 times 7, 77. We may laugh hearing that but that is the fact that we face", he said.

Luhut admitted that he had just met one of the Indonesian economists who often talked about the use of foreign workers in government projects. During the meeting, Luhut explained that the use of local workers is not as easy and simple as many people have mentioned so far.

"Yesterday one of the economists who spoke with me came, the team explained to him, it's not as simple as what is discussed outside", he said.

For example in Weda Bay, Luhut said that to be able to work in the control room in the smelter, they must-have skills. Not infrequently, workers need to get training first. Because, the basis of education is history, law, and nursing. Therefore, foreign workers are used for a while.

"For example, in Weda Bay, workers must be trained, because the basis of education is history, law, nursing. So you can imagine he is in the control room of those people. Because we don't have any", he said.

Luhut said that in principle the government has also imposed a condition, namely the exchange of technology with the presence of foreign workers. According to Luhut, there is already a technology exchange program with China. For example, in Morowali, local workers were sent to China to be trained for two years.

With this technology exchange, Luhut continued, it is hoped that when they return to Indonesia, these workers will have qualified skills by the needs of the industry in the country.

"We send this technology to young people to China for two years, we talk about methodology, recycling, it's in Morowali. My team will go there tomorrow to see what they get to become a transfer technology", he said.