REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Susi Pudjiastuti has banned the export of the commodities of a fishing company suspected of slavery.
"I have asked for the export of the products of the Benjina firm to be stopped for the time being," Pudjiastuti said at a meeting with House Commission IV here on Wednesday.
She noted that PT PBR based in Benjina, Maluku, has been suspected of inhumanly treating its boat crews.
Several international media outlets such as the Associated Press of the US have reported the slavery of boat crews employed by the company that conducts fishing in Indonesia.
According to Pudjiastuti, the company employed crew members from a number of countries in the Southeast Asian region in their boats carrying foreign flags.
She stressed that as the issue has drawn international attention and foreigners are involved, it will be appropriate for all parties concerned to take special actions.
This is important because the company's practices have gone beyond the level of appropriateness; they even forced their crew to work more than 20 hours a day and inflicted physical violence on them, she observed.
"Indonesia cannot remain idle or our products will be boycotted," Pudjiastuti pointed out.
The minister said a lot of foreign workers in Benjina do not have official immigration documents.
She noted she felt bad because slavery occurred in the Indonesian territory.
The government has been urged to revoke the permit of PT PBR in Aru island if the slavery of Myanmarese fishing crew is proven.
"The government must not close the region's fishing port as it will lead to the collapse of the local fishing industry and hurt the local community and government," member of Commission B of the Maluku regional legislative assembly Samson Atapary told Antara in Ambon on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Maritime Affairs Resources and Fisheries has proposed to the Ministry of Transportation to close the fishing port in Benjina in view of a number of violations conducted by large companies, including PBR.
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