INDONESIAN MAIDS TO GET INSURANCE COVERAGE

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama) - Two companies, Etiqa Takaful Bhd and
Takaful Ikhlas, will introduce an insurance scheme for Indonesian domestic maids
soon with a premium payment for as low as RM70 a year. (US$1=RM3.03)

With that amount, the maids will be eligible to receive compensation of up
to RM40,000 due to accidents while at work.

They will also get to receive other benefits, including death benefit,
payment for their hospital bills and medical cost under the scheme which will be
implemented under the Domestic Helpers Affairs programme (Helpers).

Chairman of the Saba Islamic Domestic Help Advisory (SAIDHA), Sabariah
Abdullah, said the insurance scheme received the cooperation of the Indonesian
embassy and the Malaysian government, and supported by 33 non-governmental
organisations (NGOs), including the Allied Coordinating Committee of Islamic
NGOs (ACCIN), Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (ABIM) and the Jemaah Islam
Malaysia (JIM).

The premium for the insurance will be paid by the employers of the maids
concerned, he told reporters after the launch of the Helper programme and the
signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between SAIDHA, the Indonesian
Embassy and their strategic partners.


Sabariah said the insurance programme had been discussed at the ministry
level and would be implemented soon.

The Helper programme also involve the participation of Maybank Bhd and CIMB
Berhad to facilitate salary payment for the maids concerned, she added.

Also present at the function was the labour attache at the Indonesian
Embassy, Agus Triyanto and president of the Malaysian Maid Employers'
Association (Mama), Engku Fauzi Engku Muhsein.