Surabaya (ANTARA News) - Manpower Minister Muhaimin Iskandar has asked state-owned shipbuilding company PT PAL to reconsider its plan to lay off 900 of its workers.

"The plan needs to be reconsidered to see if it is in line with the law or not," he said on the sidelines of a seminar on vocational safetey held on the occasion of the dedication of the Directorate of State Surabaya Shipbuilding Polytechnic (PPNS) building here on Saturday.

Muhaimin, in the company of Education Minister Muhammad Nuh admitted he had not yet received a report about the PT PAL`s retrenchment plan.

"I cannot comment much because I have not received a report about it yet. After I have later, we will certainly look into the matter," he said.

PT PAL plans to fire 900 of its workers due to losses it had suffered for the past three years (2006 - 2008).

Asked about the impact of the implementation of the China-Asean Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA), he said his office would set up a team to monitor companies affected by it.

"We will form monitoring teams across the country to see the possibility of negative impacts from the implementation of the ACFTA as of Jauary. So far no negative impact has been seen," he said.

Therefore, he said, companies and workers need to conduct consolidation to increase their competence and the quality of their products so that no layoffs would occur.

He said companies that are threatened by the ACFTA are those in the textile and footwear sectors.

"The number of layoffs in the two sectors are between three and five percent but all ministries have already taken anticipatory measures towards it such as limiting the inflow of foreign products through SNI standard requirements to assure that goods that enter must not only be cheap but also have a good quality," he said.(*)

Editor: Aditia Maruli
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