Industries Banned from Employing Child Labor: Manpower Minister

Jakarta, Dec 30 (Antara) -- Manpower Minister M. Hanif Dhakiri announced the implementation of a "Child Labor Free Zone" program in industrial areas across the country, according to which all companies are banned from recruiting and employing children. "The government will not hesitate to execute firm sanctions against companies that violate the law on child protection by employing children," the minister stated after declaring the child labor free zone program in the Makassar industrial zone in South Sulawesi on Monday. He added that banning firms in industrial areas from employing children was expected to serve as an impetus towards eliminating child labor in Indonesia. "This is the first declaration of its kind in Indonesia; it is expected to create history for its efforts to abolish child labor," Dhakiri remarked. It is believed that the declaration will also encourage local governments and companies to be committed to preventing children from working. He further noted that the same declaration would be made in Kutai Kertanegara in East Kalimantan, Makassar in South Sulawesi, Bali, Surabaya in East Java, and Jobodetabek, which includes Jakarta and its buffer zone cities of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bakasi. So far, the Manpower Ministry has withdrawn 48,055 children from workplaces between 2008 and 2015. "In 2015, the ministry will withdraw some 16,000 child laborers from their workplaces. We have a long-term target to free Indonesia of child labor by 2022," Dhakiri pointed out.