For rent: Flats for Jamsostek’s Batam workers

The central government will support state-owned insurance company PT Jamsostek’s construction of apartments that will be rented to its workers, a minister says.

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said the flats, which would be located near Jamsostek’s offices, would create increase efficiency and security.

Muhaimin made the statement last week at the launch of three twin-block PT Jamsostek apartment complexes in the Kabil industrial zone and a third in the Muka Kuning region.

“We hope that the development of the apartments will be expanded throughout the country,” Muhaimin said, adding that he was concerned about potential land acquisition
difficulties.

PT Jamsostek director Hotbonar Sinaga said the company had built three of 10 planned apartment complexes in Batam, including complexes housing 2,256 workers in Batu Ampar, 1,200 workers in Kabil and 312 workers in Muka Kuning.

The Kabil Industrial Zone apartment complex was built on a 10-hectare plot and funded by the company’s customer welfare improvement fund.

“Since 2007, we have been allocating money to build apartments for workers,” Sinaga said.

The company allocated 10 to 12 percent of its customer welfare improvement fund, which in 2009 amounted to Rp 61.7 billion (US$6.91 million), to develop the apartments.

“We mostly encounter land acquisition problems in other regions, but not in Batam, as all we need to do is pay the Authority Annual Fund,” Sinaga said.

He said the apartment complexes apartments were close to factories and business centers such as Batu Ampar and Lancang Kuning. They each can accommodate 2,000 workers.

House of Representatives Commission IX legislator Dina Mahdi hailed the apartments as a help for the workers and hoped that the company would increase its allocations for workers’ apartments.

“Looking at the profits that the company makes, it could build more flats,” Dina said.

Dina also said that not enough employers were aware that they had to register employees with the state-owned insurance company— a problem Jamsostek had to face if it planned to expand the worker welfare program.

“We may need to be more strict and serious in imposing sanctions on employers that do not register their workers with PT Jamsostek’s. So far [sanctions] have been applied relatively lightly,” Dina said.