Labor-intensive projects the only hope for the jobless

Labor-intensive projects the only hope for the jobless

Text and photo by Ridwan M. Sijabat

SURABAYA (JP): Life is hard for 34-year-old Mbak (sister) Wok
since she lost her beloved husband Poniman in January and her job
three months ago.

Employed for two weeks in an irrigation project in her village
Sumur Welut, she earns a daily wage of Rp 6,500 (65 U.S. cents)
to feed her five children.

"I have taken any jobs I could get my hands on after my
husband died in January because I have to raise my children
alone. I have nobody else to help us."

Her children have been forced to drop out of school because
her income is hardly enough to meet their daily needs, let alone
pay for school fees.

"My husband inherited nothing and I have no permanent job
after being dismissed from a plastic factory in the city," she
said. She also sells bakso (meatball soup) at nights for
additional income.

Karsa, 44, another villager who joined the Rp 68 million labor
intensive project after being unemployed for four months,
criticized the local administration for establishing a a weekly
work rotation basis for the participants.

"What should I do during the week when I am off?" he
complained.

Farmer Karsa urged the government to continue the program to
help needy villagers during the crisis.

"The Rp 6,500 daily wage is not enough to cover their family's
daily need, but it will be helpful if they are allowed to work in
the project until they can find another job."

He said his family of four could afford to eat rice only
once a day and they consumed cassava for breakfast and dinner.

Wok and Karsa are among 550 peasants who sold their land,
totaling about 90 hectares, to housing developers two years ago.
They are allowed to farm the land until the development starts.

Ismail, chief of the Surabaya manpower ministry office, said
the irrigation canal was needed to enable farmers to harvest
twice a year.

"This project is meant to give a double advantage to the
farmers -- employment and increased agricultural products."

Sali, 40, a villager in Kandang, about 60 kilometers south of
Malang, East Java, said he was happy the government initiated a
road development project in his area.

"With the road, all villages in the Sukarejo subdistrict will
be connected with the regency capital, Malang, and its economic
development can be accelerated."

He said farmers in the subdistrict had stopped planting
oranges, apples and pineapples because of the lack of
transportation and rising production costs.

A desperate Kasiyadi said most people in his village could no
longer afford to eat rice three times a day, resorting to
consuming cassava and corn instead.

"With a daily wage of Rp 6,000 from the road project, I cannot
buy enough rice, coffee, sugar and soap. The job has been
implemented on a weekly staggered schedule to allow all villagers
to benefit from the project."

In the village, rice costs between Rp 3,000 and Rp 4,000 per
liter and sugar is Rp 4,000 per kilogram.

Syafaruddin, chief of the Malang manpower ministry office,
said the Malang regency had received Rp 734.2 million to finance
16 labor-intensive projects expected to absorb about 1,200
workers.

In operation for two months, the project ends next month.

"After that, I don't know what the government will do to help
the people survive the economic crisis."

Untung Basuki, chief of the East Java provincial manpower
ministry office, disclosed that the provincial administration had
allocated Rp 46.5 billion to finance 643 labor-intensive projects
in order to employ more than 16,000 workers.

Although he acknowledged the projects could not solve the
crisis, he said they could at least help the jobless and low-
income earners cope with hard times.

"The people want such projects to continue but the
government's financial ability is limited. This projects will end
this November and what will happen after that, I don't know."

Labor-intensive projects worth Rp 598.5 billion have been
launched by the government in 4,600 rural and urban areas in 27
provinces to help ease unemployment and anticipate negative
impact of the prolonged drought and crisis.

The government, in cooperation with non-governmental
organizations and cooperatives, has also launched an eight-month
project costing Rp 399 billion to employ 65,000 dismissed skilled
workers and job seekers.

Project participants, selected from among workers and the
jobless, are trained in their expertise for eight months and then
sent to companies or given the opportunity to start businesses.

The East Java provincial manpower ministry office in
cooperation with 94 local NGOs and cooperatives has recruited
14,000 dismissed workers and skilled jobless people to
participate in 700 program packages worth 79.8 billion.

NGOs and cooperatives in East Java are optimistic that they
will be able to execute the program and complete it on schedule.

Bambang Soemantri, chairman of the Nation Empowerment
Foundation in Surabaya, said that his foundation was entrusted to
carry out 11 program assignments. It has recruited 220 dismissed
skilled workers and jobless to be trained in numerous industries
and businesses in the capital.

Workers will be trained for 100 hours in their respective
expertise and sent to work at a monthly wage of Rp 300,000.

"After eight months of apprenticeship, the participants will
be given the opportunity to decide whether they want to be
permanently employed or they will start their own business," he
said.

Yulia, chairwoman of the Surabaya Computer Institute, said her
foundation had provided a training program for 400 semiskilled
workers and university graduates for employment in the
industries. Her organization cooperated with a consulting
company, five hotels and several home industries in and around
the city in the program.

She said her institute had 23 program assignments worth Rp 417
million to train and place the workers in hotels and industries.

Burhan, chairman of the Institute for Social Science
Application in Malang, warned that the government should tightly
control implementation of the project because many participating
NGOs were inexperienced.

"I know for a fact that many NGOs involved in the project were
established just several days before the project was announced.
We don't want the project to be neglected since many dismissed
workers in the province cannot find jobs because they do not have
the required skills."

He said his institute had four packages to train 90 workers in
fishery and chicken farming.

But the funds allocated for workers to start their own
businesses are too small, he said. "How can a worker manage with
Rp 1.2 million to establish and run a chicken farm."

Trainee Sardjiman said he would join with other participants
to establish a chicken farm to overcome the funding problem.

Din Syamsuddin, director general for labor placement at the
Ministry of Manpower, has acknowledged that the funds allocated
for the projects are dwarfed by the size of the problem.

"The projects can help only around 1.5 million people
nationwide while the number of jobless has reached almost 18
million," he said.