Laboring Under Dubious Pretenses

AT a construction site in the Kendawangan District of Ketapang in West Kalimantan, scores of men in shabby-looking, grey-colored uniforms scurry about, carrying steel bars, digging dirt and pushing wheelbarrows, under the sharp supervision of foremen, riding around on motorcycles. They are not local hires, but workers brought in all the way from China to work at projects funded and operated by the China Hongqiao and Winning Investment companies, in partnership with the local Citra Mineral Investindo, a subsidiary of the Harita Group. The joint venture is currently building a bauxite smelter that will produce 4 million tons of alumina per year.