Govt introduces labor-intensive public projects

Govt introduces labor-intensive public projects

JAKARTA (JP): The government has created temporary jobs for
3.9 million people who have lost their jobs due to the monetary
crisis.

The government launched yesterday a Rp 33 billion (US$4
million) labor-intensive public works project in 30 mayoralties
and regencies in Jakarta, and in West, Central and East Java.

The program will run for the next 80 days and end after the
presidential election in March, according to Minister of Manpower
Abdul Latief.

About 90 percent of the funds, derived from the State Budget,
will go toward workers' wages, said Latief in a media briefing.
He was accompanied by Deputy Chairman of the National Development
Planning Board Rahadi Ramelan and the Ministry of Manpower's
secretary-general Suwarto.

The program was "initiated to provide works and income mostly
for (construction and agricultural) workers who have lost their
jobs due to the recent crisis," Latief said.

After March, the project will continue as a regular program
starting at the beginning of the 1998/1999 budget year in April,
he said.

"The measure is directed by President Soeharto who is very
responsive to (the plight) of common people," Latief said.

The program is called A Project for the Handling of Labor
Problems caused by the Economic Crisis and Drought. The
government first mentioned the plan to establish labor intensive
projects last month amid the onslaught of the economic crisis
pressure made worse by the long dry season.

Inflation has been on the rise, food prices were set to surge
higher due to the depreciation of the rupiah against the U.S.
dollar, and massive layoffs began.

The projects included city canal dredging to anticipate the
imminent threat of floods, the cleaning-up of markets, and the
renovation of village roads.

In Jakarta, as many as 507,200 people could be employed in the
project, or 6,340 workers per day, Latief said. In other regions,
an estimated 3,416,800 people could be employed, or 42,710
workers per day.

"This means the project will absorb as many as 3.9 million
people for the next 80 days," he said.

"Each worker will get a maximum of Rp 7,500 (90 U.S. cents),
which is higher than our regional minimum daily wage for
workers."

The minimum wage differs from one area of the country to
another. The minimum monthly wage in Greater Jakarta for
1997/1998 is Rp 172,000. The highest minimum level paid is for
those working in the industrial-designated zone of Batam, Riau,
at Rp 220,500. Yogyakarta still has the lowest minimum wage level
at Rp 106,500.

Records from the Ministry of Manpower show that if the economy
this year grows by 3.5 percent, only 1.3 million new job
opportunities will be created for the expected 2.7 million
entering the job market.

About 1.4 million new job seekers will be unable to find
employment, pushing the number of unemployed in the country this
year to 5.8 million people. By the end of 1997, the number of
unemployed already stood at 4.4 million, according to the
records.

In Yogyakarta, the local branch of the Legal Aid Institute has
promised to provide a free-of-charge service to help workers
dismissed by their companies in the monetary crisis.

"We will give the monetary crisis related cases priority,"
Yogyakarta Legal Aid public relations manager Budi Hartono said
in a statement yesterday.

According to Budi Hartono, the decision was also made in
response to the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation's (YLBHI) call
that each branch should form a special post for complaints on
massive layoffs.

"Our post is open 24 hours," the statement said. (aan/swa)