Emil calls for support for social safety net

Emil calls for support for social safety net

JAKARTA (JP): Senior economist Emil Salim has called for
public support for the government's effort to build the social
safety net for the poor it promised in its economic reform
package.

Speaking at a seminar on political and economic reform to
commemorate the second anniversary of Tempo Interaktif magazine
yesterday, Emil said the government's concept of a social safety
net would not succeed without public participation in its
implementation.

"Economic reform is not to be formulated and disseminated only
but also implemented with the participation of all elements in
society... Whatever you do, please, join the program to save the
poor," he pleaded.

Emil underscored some crucial points in the program, including
food security, the provision of medicines, the creation of jobs
for the unemployed, environmental protection and the care for the
elderly.

He said the creation of certain labor-intensive projects, such
as the "food for work" program, would prevent starvation -- a
threat that had loomed in a number of remote regions.

"Can you imagine the (plight) of people in East Kalimantan,
whose lands are burned down and can no longer grow anything? What
should they eat? How can the people in Gunung Kidul (Yogyakarta)
live if they had no income to buy food?" said Emil, also a former
cabinet minister.

He said that "straight employment programs" meant for people
who could not generate income, should be extended using the
US$100 million allocated by the World Bank.

He also pointed out the importance of providing medicine which
the poor could afford.

"If the drugs' prices are soaring, how can poor people get
medication for their illness?," he said.

Emil appealed for environmental protection, in particular the
prevention of forest fires, and the provision of water.

He also urged people to take special care of the elderly who
were no longer able to fend for themselves, especially in the
current monetary crisis. (09)