JEDDAH: Indonesian Minister of Manpower & Transmigration Muhaimin Iskandar will be arriving in the Kingdom in 10 days at the head of a delegation to sign a final agreement for the return of Indonesian manpower to the Kingdom, reported the Dammam-based Al-Sharq newspaper yesterday quoting informed sources.
The sources said the Indonesian minister would sign the agreement with his Saudi counterpart Adel Fakeih in Jeddah.
They said the agreement was worked out by joint committees representing the two sides following a year and a half of intensive talks. The Saudi negotiating team was led by undersecretary at the Labor Ministry Ahmed Humaidan.
The sources explained that the Labor Ministry adjusted its labor laws to protect the rights of the foreign worker as far as monthly salaries are concerned, making it obligatory for all individuals and companies to deposit salaries into banks. They said this was one of the conditions made by the Indonesian Ministry of Manpower & Transmigration to ensure the rights of their laborers in the Kingdom.
The sources said the two sides reached a formula to safeguard the rights of both the employee and the employer.
The recruitment of manpower from Indonesia was halted in June last year after Indonesia and the Philippines insisted on certain conditions for recruitment which the Labor Ministry rejected, considering them an intervention in the affairs of the Saudi citizen.
The new terms and conditions included a certificate specifying the number of family members with whom the housemaid or driver will be working, a sketch drawing of the house where they will be staying, an attested letter of recognition by the employer, a statement showing their monthly income and a list of the jobs the maid will be asked to do.
The embassies of Indonesia and the Philippines also drafted a 15-page contract to be signed by the sponsors containing all the terms and conditions for employment of their manpower.
Return of Indonesian maids likely
