Rp 1.8 trillion allocated to ease unemployment

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)