Labor-intensive projects the only hope for the jobless<\/p>\n
Text and photo by Ridwan M. Sijabat<\/p>\n
SURABAYA (JP): Life is hard for 34-year-old Mbak (sister) Wok
\nsince she lost her beloved husband Poniman in January and her job
\nthree months ago.<\/p>\n
Employed for two weeks in an irrigation project in her village
\nSumur Welut, she earns a daily wage of Rp 6,500 (65 U.S. cents)
\nto feed her five children.<\/p>\n
\"I have taken any jobs I could get my hands on after my
\nhusband died in January because I have to raise my children
\nalone. I have nobody else to help us.\"<\/p>\n
Her children have been forced to drop out of school because
\nher income is hardly enough to meet their daily needs, let alone
\npay for school fees.<\/p>\n
\"My husband inherited nothing and I have no permanent job
\nafter being dismissed from a plastic factory in the city,\" she
\nsaid. She also sells bakso (meatball soup) at nights for
\nadditional income.<\/p>\n
Karsa, 44, another villager who joined the Rp 68 million labor
\nintensive project after being unemployed for four months,
\ncriticized the local administration for establishing a a weekly
\nwork rotation basis for the participants.<\/p>\n
\"What should I do during the week when I am off?\" he
\ncomplained.<\/p>\n
Farmer Karsa urged the government to continue the program to
\nhelp needy villagers during the crisis.<\/p>\n
\"The Rp 6,500 daily wage is not enough to cover their family's
\ndaily need, but it will be helpful if they are allowed to work in
\nthe project until they can find another job.\"<\/p>\n
He said his family of four could afford to eat rice only
\nonce a day and they consumed cassava for breakfast and dinner.<\/p>\n
Wok and Karsa are among 550 peasants who sold their land,
\ntotaling about 90 hectares, to housing developers two years ago.
\nThey are allowed to farm the land until the development starts.<\/p>\n
Ismail, chief of the Surabaya manpower ministry office, said
\nthe irrigation canal was needed to enable farmers to harvest
\ntwice a year.<\/p>\n
\"This project is meant to give a double advantage to the
\nfarmers -- employment and increased agricultural products.\"<\/p>\n
Sali, 40, a villager in Kandang, about 60 kilometers south of
\nMalang, East Java, said he was happy the government initiated a
\nroad development project in his area.<\/p>\n
\"With the road, all villages in the Sukarejo subdistrict will
\nbe connected with the regency capital, Malang, and its economic
\ndevelopment can be accelerated.\"<\/p>\n
He said farmers in the subdistrict had stopped planting
\noranges, apples and pineapples because of the lack of
\ntransportation and rising production costs.<\/p>\n
A desperate Kasiyadi said most people in his village could no
\nlonger afford to eat rice three times a day, resorting to
\nconsuming cassava and corn instead.<\/p>\n
\"With a daily wage of Rp 6,000 from the road project, I cannot
\nbuy enough rice, coffee, sugar and soap. The job has been
\nimplemented on a weekly staggered schedule to allow all villagers
\nto benefit from the project.\"<\/p>\n
In the village, rice costs between Rp 3,000 and Rp 4,000 per
\nliter and sugar is Rp 4,000 per kilogram.<\/p>\n
Syafaruddin, chief of the Malang manpower ministry office,
\nsaid the Malang regency had received Rp 734.2 million to finance
\n16 labor-intensive projects expected to absorb about 1,200
\nworkers.<\/p>\n
In operation for two months, the project ends next month.<\/p>\n
\"After that, I don't know what the government will do to help
\nthe people survive the economic crisis.\"<\/p>\n
Untung Basuki, chief of the East Java provincial manpower
\nministry office, disclosed that the provincial administration had
\nallocated Rp 46.5 billion to finance 643 labor-intensive projects
\nin order to employ more than 16,000 workers.<\/p>\n
Although he acknowledged the projects could not solve the
\ncrisis, he said they could at least help the jobless and low-
\nincome earners cope with hard times.<\/p>\n
\"The people want such projects to continue but the
\ngovernment's financial ability is limited. This projects will end
\nthis November and what will happen after that, I don't know.\"<\/p>\n
Labor-intensive projects worth Rp 598.5 billion have been
\nlaunched by the government in 4,600 rural and urban areas in 27
\nprovinces to help ease unemployment and anticipate negative
\nimpact of the prolonged drought and crisis.<\/p>\n
The government, in cooperation with non-governmental
\norganizations and cooperatives, has also launched an eight-month
\nproject costing Rp 399 billion to employ 65,000 dismissed skilled
\nworkers and job seekers.<\/p>\n
Project participants, selected from among workers and the
\njobless, are trained in their expertise for eight months and then
\nsent to companies or given the opportunity to start businesses.<\/p>\n
The East Java provincial manpower ministry office in
\ncooperation with 94 local NGOs and cooperatives has recruited
\n14,000 dismissed workers and skilled jobless people to
\nparticipate in 700 program packages worth 79.8 billion.<\/p>\n
NGOs and cooperatives in East Java are optimistic that they
\nwill be able to execute the program and complete it on schedule.<\/p>\n
Bambang Soemantri, chairman of the Nation Empowerment
\nFoundation in Surabaya, said that his foundation was entrusted to
\ncarry out 11 program assignments. It has recruited 220 dismissed
\nskilled workers and jobless to be trained in numerous industries
\nand businesses in the capital.<\/p>\n
Workers will be trained for 100 hours in their respective
\nexpertise and sent to work at a monthly wage of Rp 300,000.<\/p>\n
\"After eight months of apprenticeship, the participants will
\nbe given the opportunity to decide whether they want to be
\npermanently employed or they will start their own business,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Yulia, chairwoman of the Surabaya Computer Institute, said her
\nfoundation had provided a training program for 400 semiskilled
\nworkers and university graduates for employment in the
\nindustries. Her organization cooperated with a consulting
\ncompany, five hotels and several home industries in and around
\nthe city in the program.<\/p>\n
She said her institute had 23 program assignments worth Rp 417
\nmillion to train and place the workers in hotels and industries.<\/p>\n
Burhan, chairman of the Institute for Social Science
\nApplication in Malang, warned that the government should tightly
\ncontrol implementation of the project because many participating
\nNGOs were inexperienced.<\/p>\n
\"I know for a fact that many NGOs involved in the project were
\nestablished just several days before the project was announced.
\nWe don't want the project to be neglected since many dismissed
\nworkers in the province cannot find jobs because they do not have
\nthe required skills.\"<\/p>\n
He said his institute had four packages to train 90 workers in
\nfishery and chicken farming.<\/p>\n
But the funds allocated for workers to start their own
\nbusinesses are too small, he said. \"How can a worker manage with
\nRp 1.2 million to establish and run a chicken farm.\"<\/p>\n
Trainee Sardjiman said he would join with other participants
\nto establish a chicken farm to overcome the funding problem.<\/p>\n
Din Syamsuddin, director general for labor placement at the
\nMinistry of Manpower, has acknowledged that the funds allocated
\nfor the projects are dwarfed by the size of the problem.<\/p>\n
\"The projects can help only around 1.5 million people
\nnationwide while the number of jobless has reached almost 18
\nmillion,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/labor-intensive-projects-the-only-hope-for-the-jobless-1447893297",
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