City workers ask WB to remember the jobless

JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of blue-collar workers, most of whom have lost their jobs during the financial crisis, urged visiting World Bank president James Wolfensohn yesterday to keep sponsoring labor-intensive projects.

And local women asked Wolfensohn, who toured a slum area and one of the bank-sponsored projects in Kalibaru, North Jakarta yesterday afternoon, to give them more opportunities to participate.

Antara reported that the residents made their appeal in response to Wolfensohn's questions about the program, which is intended to alleviate the burden of unemployment on the city.

According to the residents, the projects have helped their families stay afloat during the economic turmoil.

Surrounded by a crowd of foreign and local journalists and camera crews, Wolfensohn visited a canal cleaning project -- one of the 18 labor-intensive operations funded by the World Bank in North Jakarta and expected to run from January until March.

About 220 people each receive Rp 7,500 per day for five hours of dredging mud out of the dirty canal at the site Wolfensohn visited.

"We normally work from eight to one, but I don't know why we're still here now," a bemused worker, Abdulhayat, told reporters.

None of the workers questioned at the site had heard of the World Bank, but they had been told Wolfensohn was the man who funded their meager existences.

"I was unemployed after losing my job at a construction project and I am thankful to the government for allowing me to take part in this project," one worker told Wolfensohn.

A middle-aged woman told reporters with glee that her son was spending his free time working on the project.

"One of my two sons, Novianto, 17, has been working on the project for four days, that is since the school holidays, but once school resumes he will not work anymore," she said.

Before leaving, the World Bank chief walked through the muddy alley of a nearby slum without making a formal statement.

"It is good that he (Wolfensohn) sees real poverty," a well- heeled Indonesian official traveling with the delegation and sporting an expensive-looking suit, said.

"As for me, I am used to this."

A World Bank press release issued prior to the visit said that the organization and the Asian Development Bank had agreed with the government on a series of loan amendments worth US$150 million to minimize the social impact and decrease government funding requirements in several projects.

"Agreements were reached to both reduce requirements for government of Indonesia matching funds and to authorize a nationwide program of emergency, labor-intensive work to provide employment for workers impacted by the financial crisis," the statement said.

During the tour, Wolfensohn was accompanied by World Bank representative for Indonesia Dennis De Tray, Asian Development Bank representative for Indonesia TC Patterson, and a number of city officials.

Wolfensohn and his team are in Indonesia to consult with government officials, bankers, members of the business community and other prominent figures regarding the World Bank's support of structural adjustment reforms recently agreed to by the Indonesian government and the International Monetary Fund.

Most of the people who have joined the labor program said they had lost their jobs due to the economic crisis.

Participants in the Kalibaru project are aged between 13 and 55.

One of the workers, Djamal, 17, said he joined the program because his father was no longer able to pay for his school fees.

"I've just completed junior high ... but a few weeks ago my mom passed away and my dad lost his job. My dad said he can't support me anymore ... so I have to help him earn some money for my two younger brothers," he said.

Hardship had also prompted Askariah, a mother of six, to participate.

"I'm glad to join this program ... because my husband was fired from his job as a construction worker. I have nothing to do at home. So, no matter how little I get from this project it's better than nothing."

She had been forced to close down her kiosk because she could no longer afford to buy the foodstuffs she needed. (edt/bsr)