Infrastructure projects 'must be continued'

Infrastructure projects 'must be continued'

JAKARTA (JP): The government should continue with planned
labor-intensive infrastructure projects despite the economic
crisis to prevent more unemployment, an expert on urban issues
said yesterday.

Urban and Regional Development Institute director BS.
Kusbiantoro said rising unemployment due to the crisis would put
the government in a difficult position later if adequate
preparations were not made now.

"Unemployment could damage what we have achieved over the past
years and could even affect national stability," Kusbiantoro,
also a professor at Bandung Institute of Technology, said.

Going ahead with infrastructure projects would provide more
jobs for casual workers and would prepare the country for when
the economic situation returned to normal, he said.

These projects could be road, water supply network, drainage,
wastewater treatment, water-catchment, irrigation and water canal
projects.

Kusbiantoro did not suggest an alternative funding source for
the projects.

He praised the Jakarta administration's plan to hire about
5,000 unskilled workers a month for its drainage system and river
dredging projects, dike and canal renovations, and other
projects.

Developing and renovating small houses, cheap apartments and
markets would have spinoff benefits for related industrial
sectors such as construction and housing, he said.

He suggested that 14 hectares of unused land in Jakarta and
surrounding areas, and some riverbanks should be managed by
farmers.

Private developers that have yet to use their land could
cooperate with the farmers until they were ready to develop their
land, he said.

"We should go ahead with efforts which would have multiplier
economic effects."

The government should also offer incentives, including tax
reductions, to private companies that develop labor intensive
projects, he said.

To prevent further unemployment, the city administrations
should postpone evictions from their slums, he said.

"People now tend to be against evictions. It would only give
rise to dissatisfaction and protests."

Kusbiantoro said all these ideas were implemented by the
governments of the United States, the Netherlands and Britain
during their economic crises.

"The situations in those countries (before their recessions)
were similar to that here before the crisis," he said.

He said transparent regulations and procedures, clean and
competent officials, and good government were needed to ensure
the success of these efforts. (jun)