Tangerang labor projects to begin

Tangerang labor projects to begin

TANGERANG (JP): Government-run projects in Tangerang are set
to begin Monday and are expected to temporarily employ 73,260
blue-collar workers to ease unemployment problems in the city.

Tangerang Mayor H. Djakaria Mahmud said yesterday that the
labor-intensive projects, financed by the central government with
a budget of Rp 620.8 million (US$87,000), were to be conducted in
79 subdistricts.

Out of the program's total budget, Rp 580 million would be
allocated to pay workers, while the remainder would be for the
procurement of materials, Djakaria was quoted by Antara as
saying.

"Each worker will be paid Rp 7,500 for a five-hour workday,"
he said.

The projects, which would be conducted until March, would
consist of road improvements, dredging ditches, repainting road
markers and greening activities, he said.

Djakaria said that the work program would involve the
participation of subdistrict heads, who would be in charge of
registering workers for the projects.

He expected that the projects would help ease unemployment
problems which have become acute as more and more workers were
being laid off in the wake of the monetary crisis.

Djakaria also warned subdistrict heads not to take advantage
of the implementation of the project for personal gain.

"This project should focus on helping the jobless and those
who have just been laid off," he said. (hhr)