The Jakarta Post
A senior government official is warning that the safety of Indonesian workers is poorly protected, underlining that companies have continued to neglect safety standards in their operations. The statement was triggered by a recent fire at a lighter factory in Langkat regency, North Sumatra, which killed 30 people. The human rights director general at the Law and Human Rights Ministry, Mualimin Abdi, said the incident in Langkat revealed the minimum, if not poor, implementation of human rights in business in Indonesia. “Human rights implementation in business is relatively a new issue here, but cases of companies’ negligence toward the rights of workers have happened for a long time,” Mualimin said at the release of results of research conducted by the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) on Indonesia’s business and human rights development on Th...