JERMAL (FISHING PLATFORM), N.SUMATRA, INDONESIA - Stolen Childhoods (sitios de interés)
Descripción del sitio
Media Voices for Children posted a photo:
Two boys bring in nets for patching on a jermal.
©Romano / Stolen Childhoods
A jermal is a fishing platform perched precariously on long stilts in the shallow seas off north Sumatra. there are between 1,200 and 1,500 such platforms with more than 5,000 kids (ages 10 - 17) at work on them. Their world consists only of these rickety wooden structures not much larger than a tennis court, 15 to 50 km off the coast, sitting a few meters above the waves. Perhaps 10 workers live on each, half or more of whom are children.There is little safety equipment. Living amenities are minimal.
The work is extremely hazardous, abusive and sometimes lethal, as many of the children are unable to swim and either fall off the platforms or are dragged down by and caught in the netting. Work lasts 12, 16 even 20 hours at a stretch, lifting heavy nets filled with teri, a small, anchovy-like fish, sorting the teri from stinging jellyfish or seasnakes, then boiling, salting and drying the catch. Then, after snatching a few hours of sleep, they will work again the next day, and the next, month after month.
The minimum stay is three months, without any time on shore. Those how go home before three months won't get any pay. And the wage is meager for all that backbreaking work. Beginners get $5.00 a month, while an experienced boy may get $10. And since the money is handed over only when a boy is leaving, complaining is
useless. The pay and conditions are far below legal standards, but still the kids come, driven by necessity, often unaware of what they are getting into and sometimes tricked or virtually kidnapped by unscrupulous agents.
Jermal kids tend to be chronically tired from the long an irregular hours, increasing the probability of accidents and injuries. Nutrition is poor. Meals consist almost entirely of fish and rice; vegetables are a
rarity. Medical treat is primitive or non-existent. Isolation breeds emotional problems. There are fights among the children. Worst is the abuse -- emotional, verbal, physical, even sexual -- at the hands of older workers or the foreman. Not every jermal is so hellish, but none are places for a child.