Indonesia must overcome major obstacles, including overturning ingrained principles, if it is to succeed in creating a credible welfare system for its citizens, the majority of whom are poor, a seminar heard Tuesday.
Binny Buchori from NGO Perkumpulan Prakarsa said it was ironic that the country had been praised for its democratic achievements but still did not ensure the welfare of its citizens.
"Only 18 million people out of the 220 million *population* are covered by health insurance," he said.
Binny cited as an example data on the informal sector, which comprises 69 percent of the country's work force.
"Indonesia is not committed to developing a welfare system, but instead focuses on social policies" Binny said, adding that such social policies were not complete.
The government's move to implement the 2004 Law on the Social Security System (SJSN), which stipulates the need to create a regulating institute called the Social Insurance Management Agency (BPJS) is long overdue.
Currently, several companies, including state-owned firms Jamsostek and Taspen, which provide insurance for workers and pension funds, offer various forms of insurance for a small portion of the population.
Binny said that the government had yet to pass the BPJS law, which would provide a legal basis for the agency. "The SJSN is quite good. we have to start providing comprehensive social protection," she said.
However, Binny added, passing the BPJS law was proving complicated. "There are huge resistances," she said.
Resistance to the law within the House of Representatives, she said, was from various parties, including affiliates of the state-owned insurance providers and political parties.
Providing an all-encompassing social security system would be a major step toward increasing social welfare for Indonesians, she said, but added that the country was still a long way off from establishing a credible welfare system.
G*ran Adamson from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark said during the seminar that being a big, pluralistic country was a challenge in itself for Indonesia to become a welfare state.
He said the country needed to build up social and economic solidarity through taxes.
"The unemployment of poor people will be *felt' among the wealthy, because they have to support and *pay' for the unemployed by means of the tax system. in other countries, this link is broken *or has never existed*," Adamson said.
