Indonesia’s Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah has launched a program to develop and expand employment opportunities through the Social Safety Net (JPS) as one of the strategic steps to deal with the impacts of COVID-19.

“The COVID-19 pandemic does not only affect health, but also weakens the economy, which is marked by production decline, layoffs, and the people’s purchasing power drop,” Ida Fauziyah said in a statement on Sunday (Oct 4).

Hence, the JPS program was launched to ease the burden on people and workers who were economically affected by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, she remarked.

The JPS programs at the Ministry of Manpower included of the Independent Manpower program (TKM) for the creation of entrepreneurs and labor-intensive activities that could provide options for those affected by the pandemic, the minister added.

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The entrepreneurial creation program aims to create jobs for the community through empowerment and sustainable activities.

In addition, there is also a labor intensive program, which is a community empowerment program targeting unemployed and underemployed, through the construction of public facilities and community productivity facilities by involving a large number of workers.

The ministry’s programs help micro, small and medium scale enterprises to survive in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Manpower through the Directorate for Development and Expansion of Employment Opportunities as of Oct 2, 2020, has distributed TKM program assistance to a total of 1,985 entrepreneurial groups involving 39,700 people and 1,091 labor-intensive groups involving 21,820 people.

The recipients of the aid will receive sustainable training courses assisted directly by the Ministry of Manpower.

— ANTARA

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