Only 83,100 firms join Jamsostek

JAKARTA (JP): Only about 83,100 out of the 400,000 registered companies in Indonesia have joined the government sponsored Workers Social Security Program (Jamsostek), an official said yesterday.

Bambang Purwoko, the head of research and development at the government-owned social insurance company PT Jamsostek, said that the 83,100 companies employed about 14.6 million people.

"Jamsostek is a basic program, it is the minimum protection for workers that all eligible companies must provide. Unfortunately, many companies have not obeyed the law," Bambang said on the sidelines of a seminar on safety management in construction.

He said many companies were not aware of the long-term benefits they could get from joining Jamsostek.

"Joining Jamsostek is like saving money, because it guarantees workers protection and welfare in case of accident or illness without burdening companies with extra costs," he said.

The 1992 Law on Workers Social Security states that companies which employ 10 workers or more, or have a monthly payroll of about Rp 1 million or more, must register their employees with the Jamsostek scheme.

Violators face a maximum of six-month imprisonment and Rp 50 million (US$20,424) fine.

Bambang said Jamsostek's social security was divided into four schemes, namely an accident fund, health care, death benefits and retirement funds.

Jamsostek received Rp 1.11 trillion in contributions last year and paid Rp 270.9 billion in benefits, he said.

Indonesia, especially Jakarta, has a high number of fatal accidents on work sites.

Last year, there were at least 150 on-site accidents in Jakarta alone. More than 30 resulted in deaths.

Most of the accidents were at construction sites.

Yesterday's seminar was held by the Indonesian British Construction Industry Group, in cooperation with the public works ministry.

Members of the Indonesian British group, formed in 1995, include the Association of Indonesian Builders, PT Jamsostek, British consultants and construction companies and public works ministry staff. (das)