Rp 1.8 trillion allocated to ease unemployment

JAKARTA (JP): The government has allocated Rp 1.8 trillion (US$138 million) in the draft 1998/1999 state budget for labor- intensive projects designed to ease the worsening unemployment crisis, a minister said yesterday.

State Minister of National Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita said the national program would concentrate on reforestation, urban and rural sectors, and drought-hit regencies in Irian Jaya.

"The target of this program is to provide productive jobs for those who are unemployed, in towns and villages, as a result of the economy and monetary crisis and the drought," Ginandjar said after meeting with President Soeharto at the latter's private residence on Jl. Cendana, Central Jakarta.

The minister said the money was derived from foreign aid and the government.

"In the forestry sector alone, the government will spend Rp 505.8 billion to speed up reforestation projects," Ginandjar said.

The government will provide Rp 300 billion for labor intensive projects in urban areas and Rp 300 billion in rural areas, designed especially for white-collar workers.

"We will also spend Rp 400 billion to reduce unemployment among (blue-collar) workers who were recently laid-off," the minister said.

In the 50-point agreement between the President and the International Monetary Fund, Soeharto pledged to introduce community-based work programs to sustain the purchasing power of the poor in rural and urban areas.

Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura promised Indonesia Thursday that his government would provide 50 billion yen ($400 million) fast-disbursement loans for the 1998/1999 fiscal year, starting in April, especially for labor-intensive projects.

Deputy chairman of the Federation of All-Indonesian Workers' Union Bomer Pasaribu predicted Saturday that unemployment for this year would reach 13.5 million people, up about 50 percent from last year's figures.

"The government will also spend Rp 288.8 million to develop drought-hit regencies in Irian Jaya," said Ginandjar.

More than 670 people died from drought-related illnesses and malnutrition in the country's eastern most province last year. Many of the victims were residents of some isolated villages unacccesible except by air transport, but smog caused by forest fires hampered many of the relief effort then.

"I want to tell the public again that besides undertaking measures to restore confidence in the rupiah, the government is also trying to resolve unemployment problems," Ginandjar said. (prb)