Jamsostek spends Rp 149.9b on improving workers' welfare

Jamsostek spends Rp 149.9b on improving workers' welfare

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

State-owned insurance company PT Jamsostek spent more than Rp
149.9 billion (US$16.6 million) in 2002 to provide financial aid
and develop social infrastructure in industrial zones to help
improve workers' welfare.

The president of PT Jamsostek, A. Djunaidi, said that
Jamsostek developed 12 four-story, low-cost apartments worth Rp
53.45 billion to accommodate more than 2,200 workers in
industrial bonded zones in Batam, Riau.

"Jamsostek also disbursed a total of Rp 44.6 billion for the
down payment of housing credits to more than 10,300 workers
employed in 312 companies in industrial zones in Batam, Jakarta,
Tangerang and Surabaya, and we will continue to extend such
financial schemes to empower workers in years to come," Djunaidi
said. He spoke on the sidelines as he paid a sum of Rp 1 billion
in occupational accident insurance to an executive of a pulp and
paper mill here on Tuesday.

Besides receiving occupational accident insurance, relatives
of PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP) General Manager Budiman,
who recently died of a stroke at work, also obtained pension
funds worth Rp 68 million from Jamsostek.

Djunaidi said that Jamsostek provided a further Rp 21 billion
in financial aid for health clinics at 256 companies and Rp 16.6
billion to rehabilitate 112 public health centers across the
country.

"We have distributed 39 ambulances worth Rp 4.71 billion to
public heath centers," he said.

He said that Jamsostek not only distributed aid towards
education, but also provided financial assistance to dismissed
workers and to workers who had been laid off.

"We provided a total of Rp 9.10 billion in scholarships to
more than 16,600 children of workers employed in more than 2,000
companies, and paid Rp 8.20 billion to 41,000 workers who were
dismissed or laid off for various reasons," he said. According to
the 2000 ministerial decree, workers who were dismissed after
being employed for more than five years have the right to obtain
compensation from Jamsostek.

Djunaidi explained that the funds which were used to improve
the social welfare of workers and their families (DPKP) were
allocated from the company's 2001 dividend, which should be paid
to the government as its main stakeholder.

He acknowledged that Jamsostek, in coordination with the
Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, was planning to set up
hospitals especially for workers in certain regions. The first
workers' hospital would be developed in the industrial area of
Karawang in Bekasi, West Java.

Jamsostek, which was established to provide social security
for workers as stipulated by Law No. 3/1992 on social security,
has paid a total of Rp 6.4 trillion in the occupational accident
(JKK), pension funds (JHT), life insurance (JK) and health care
programs (JPK).

Jamsostek has forged a cooperation with state and private
hospitals in cities and regencies across the country to establish
trauma centers, such as health clinics, to provide health
services for workers who have met with accidents in the
workplace.

"So far, we have established trauma centers in Semarang,
Sleman (Yogyakarta), Palembang (South Sumatra), Ujung Berung and
Cimahi (both in West Java), Surabaya, Kediri and Jakarta, and all
our trauma centers have received ISO 9001 certification."