Rabu, 28 Mei 2008 10:07:09 | 4405 klik | |

Lawmakers are asking the manpower minister to force employers to raise workers' transport and meal allowances, saying the fuel policy could impoverish them.

Although acknowledging the cash assistance program is helping alleviate the burden of the fuel price rise on poor and very poor families, members of the House of Representatives said the government had ignored low-income workers.

Mutammimul Ula of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said excluding workers from the cash assistance program was wrong. "The workers use transport to get to work. That's why they will feel the pinch right away. But their income is fixed, as they can't move to something else because they work full-time for a company," he said.

According to the latest data from the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, about 27 million workers are paid less than Rp 1 million per month. This figure includes 3.29 million workers who receive Rp 200,000 per month.
Sidarto Danusubroto of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) demanded the government come up with a better scheme to help low-income workers, either by a regulation requiring employers to raise transport and meal allowances or by creating another program.

Golkar Party politician Harry Azhar Azis said he would propose the government force employers to increase allowances for the workers.
"Right now, there is a proposal to increase salaries for civil servants and the military. We should also consider compensating low-income workers for the fuel price rise," he said.

The government last Friday raised subsidized fuel prices by an average of 28.7 percent to help relieve the state budget, which has been strained by soaring crude oil prices. Public transport companies raised fares immediately following the announcement.

The cash aid program is intended for 19.1 million poor families, or 76.4 million people. Each household will receive Rp 100,000 per month.
The Indonesian Employers Association said workers' allowances would likely be raised by about 10 percent, starting in June.

The Coalition of Independent Monitoring (KIP), an NGO that is monitoring the distribution of the cash handouts, has detected no problems in the disbursement of the subsidy in Greater Jakarta.

"Based on our observations, we haven't seen any problems or unfairness during the cash aid distribution," KIP coordinator Heru Wisesa said Monday.
Government officials have sent contradictory messages to the public about the necessity of updating data on poor families who qualified for the cash aid.

In Medan, Social Services Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah said the government did not need to conduct a survey because the 2005 data it was using was accurate and up-to-date. In the South Sumatra capital of Palembang, Central Statistics Agency (BPS) chief Rusman Heryawan said the government would conduct a national survey in September to update the 2005 data. (trw)