Govt Preparing Social Security Net for Creative Industry Workers
Translator
Editor
28 April 2020 12:14 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Ministry of Education and Culture’s Director General of Culture, Hilmar Farid, stated that the Ministry is preparing at least three countermeasure policies to aid workers in the creative industry affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"First, it must be a matter of safety because there are social restrictions in place. Almost all public gathering places have to be closed," he said in a live broadcast on Instagram with Reza Rahadian, on Monday, April 27, 2020.
According to Hilmar, the government has also prepared an assistance program in the form of social security nets for creative industry workers. "The second is social security. Last month we began to collect data on creative industry workers, whose income is relatively low, affected (by the pandemic). We made a classification, allowing for direct assistance," Hilmar said.
"The problem is that here at the Directorate General of Culture, we cannot provide direct assistance. So, we have sent the data, we coordinate with the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Cultural Affairs, followed up by the Ministry of Social Affairs who will execute it,” he said.
Hilmar revealed that, based on the Ministry of Education and Culture’s data collection process thus far, 38 thousand creative industry workers across Indonesia are impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the figure is not yet complete as the data collection process is still undergoing, with the social assistance program being targeted for May.
On top of that, the third policy prepared by the government for creative industry workers focuses on a recovery scheme for the industry.
“The most important thing is that we have a solid plan. If we were to recover the industry, (we need to know) what are the things needed. There is tax relaxation, but that is not enough. We must prepare other incentives, whether it is capital support, or something more technical and convenient" added Hilmar.
ANTARA | DIO SUHENDA (INTERN TRANSLATOR)
