Friday, October 01, 2010

Indonesian office awaiting identification of dead workers

Taipei, Oct. 1 (CNA) Indonesia's representative office in Taiwan has not begun to handle the deaths of six Indonesian migrant workers killed in a construction site accident Thursday as it has yet to be informed of their identity, an official with the office said Friday.

Seven workers, including six who were reportedly Indonesian, were killed and two others were injured after a sprawling network of scaffolding at a construction site for a No. 6 Freeway exit ramp collapsed early Thursday afternoon.

The No. 6 Freeway, which connects Caotun to Puli in central Taiwan, saves travel time to the popular tourist areas of Sun Moon Lake and Cingjing Farm.

"We've been in contact with labor affairs authorities since the accident happened, but we're still waiting for the final identification report from the police department to proceed with subsequent procedures, " said Amina Tjandra, a member of the Indonesian Economic and Trade Office to Taipei's Labor Department.

The six migrant workers were reportedly illegally hired by contractors.

Tjandra said she has no information about the six workers.

"If the media report is correct, they could be undocumented workers who legally entered Taiwan but left their previous job, " she said.

There were 151,723 Indonesian workers in Taiwan as of the end of August, according to figures from the Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training under the council. The number accounts for more than 40 percent of the 372,146 migrant workers in Taiwan at the time.

Just over 85 percent of Indonesian workers -- 129,046 out of 151,723 -- were working in Taiwan in August as caregivers, while less than 1 percent were employed in the construction industry, the figures showed. (By Chris Wang) enditem/ls