Jamsostek gives Rp 40b for housing

JAKARTA: State-owned social security firm PT Jamsostek has allocated Rp 40 billion (US$4.8 million) to develop more affordable housing for workers in industrial zones.

Jamsostek president Achmad Djunaidi said on Friday that the company was surveying industrial zones that should take priority in the low-cost apartment project.

The provincial governments of Banten, East Java, West Java and North Sumatra have long proposed that Jamsostek build inexpensive housing in the industrial areas, due to the skyrocketing rent for houses in those provinces.

Jamsostek has so far developed several affordable apartments for low-income workers in the industrial areas of Batam, Riau; Cikarang, West Java; and Makassar, South Sulawesi. -- JP